30.11.2022

Windhoist insolvency

News has reached us of insolvency issues at both the Scottish and the Irish divisions of crane and wind turbine specialist Windhoist.

We have reached out to the senior managers of Windhoist and the Windlogix group which includes Windhoist, Hexis Training and inspection company Stowen, but so far have received no response. We understand that the business based in Scotland appointed an administrator earlier this week, and as a result stopped supporting the Irish based business. As part of the process, Windhoist went to the High Court in Dublin yesterday seeking a winding up order and appointment of a liquidator for the Irish company as "it could no longer provide funds to the Irish entity, that meant that is had insufficient cash to pay its employees".

We have also had calls from crane operators currently working overseas stating that they have been left stranded and told to find their own way home. We have not been able to confirm that this is the case, although we have asked the company to clarify the situation. We tried visiting the Windhoist website, but it is currently down, with the message: “We are currently updating our website and look forward to launching again soon. While waiting for a new Windhoist web experience, why not contact us via our social media pages, or browse our career opportunities at……”

In yesterday’s hearing in Dublin the company said that contracts had become unprofitable due to a variety of factors including higher than forecast operating costs and clients withholding payments due to factors such as weather related delays.

Justice Brian O’Moore said he was satisfied enough with the evidence to appoint Nicholas O’Dwyer of Grant Thornton Ireland, and Stuart Preston of Grant Thornton UK, as joint provisional liquidators of the company. The Irish company’s creditors include a €7 million inter-company loan, €600,000 to the Irish Revenue service and €139,000 trade creditors.

Windhoist was acquired by Star Capital in 2019, it was founded in 1999 by executive chairman Tony Mallin, previously of Hambros Bank, although managing partner Uniti Bhalla, who joined the business in 2000 sits on the Windhoist Holdings/Windlogix boards.
According to Companies House information, accounts are overdue for several parts of the group. The last accounts on file for Windlogix are for 2020 and show revenues of more than doubling from 2019 to £66 million, with a pre-tax loss of £25.6 million, along with a negative working capital of £26.5 million and a negative net worth of over £50 million.

We will update this news item as soon as we receive more information or hear back from the company.