07.06.2005

All Access files

All Access the powered access rental specialist that was formed three and a half years ago by John Corcoran and Paul Koral, following their departure from Universal Access, filed notice last week of its intention to apply for an administration order.

The company has ten days to file, during which it benefits from similar levels of protection from its creditors as under a full administration moratorium.

Paul Koral told vertikal.net that “as of today (Monday June 6th) the company is Not in administration. We are having difficulties and we have filed a ten day notice of our intention to file. that is in the public domain”

“If we do file for administration, and it is most likely that we will, we will go through the process and aim to emerge as a smaller company”

Vertikal Comment

The birth of All Access came into being with threats of legal action after the sudden departure of its founders from Universal Access . This came to nothing and the business grew rapidly, thanks to John Corcorans sales skills, Paul Korals admin experience and high levels of energy and hard work, not to mention the ability of the two to obtain funding to fuel the growth..

In the 2004 Cranes&Access Top 20 UK hirers guide, All Access reported the highest level of investment of any UK based powered Access company in the previous 12 months, claiming to have spent £6.3 million.

This made it the 13th largest powered access fleet in the country with 783 uints, six depots and 41 employees.

Catherine Stratton, in her 2003/2004 plant hire investment report, quotes the company’s net book value at £8.3 million with revenues of £3.7 million for the 11 months to September 2003.
The company has traded profitably since start up.

The company initially invested very heavily in mid range straight booms, and large diesel scissors, becoming a specialist supplier to the steel erection market.

Returns on these types of lifts has over the past few years been the worst in the industry, but more critically, the trades that use them:- roofing, cladding, and steel erection sub contractors have some of the highest failure rates in the construction industry.

High leverage caused by the extremely rapid expansion and higher rates that such a start up attracts, combined with a string of bad debt write offs, will also have played a major role in the company’s current predicament. The company will have an excellent chance to emerge from administration with a stronger balance sheet at a time when the market is bouyant.

The company might use the ten day period to seek a voluntary arrangement with its creditors, or at least aim to keep them "on board" as they formulate a rescue plan. The largest group of creiditors will be the finance companies that hold the leases on the equipment in the company's fleet.