A north Fife steel fabrication company has gone into liquidation with debts of more than £300,000.
The demise of Houston’s of Cupar has left the high-profile Dundee businessman who tried to rescue the ailing company angry and disappointed.
Hermann Twickler, managing director of PressureFab and a former Scottish Business Leader of the Year, blamed the company’s demise on a property leasing dispute which be believed could have been avoided.
A petition to wind-up Houston’s was granted at Dundee Sheriff Court to Robert Duncan Kay, landlord of the Cupar factory.
Liquidator Matthew Purdon of Henderson, Johnston, Carmichael was appointed and has calculated the firm’s debts to creditors at £299,986 as part of a total deficiency of £303,219. He considers there is no prospect of any creditor receiving a dividend.
Mr Twickler took over the loss-making Houston’s in the winter of 2013, hoping its subsea engineering experience would complement PressureFab’s steel fabrication capabilities and win more orders.
Houston’s which was to be renamed PressureFab Subsea was in financial difficulties, and Mr Twickler arranged emergency funding to pay the wages of the 25 personnel and some of the bills.
The subsidiary began to recover until Mr Twickler said he learned that the lease for the Cupar Muir premises was not due to run out until 2019, four years later than he had understood.
Negotiations to find a new tenant Houston’s workforce had been moved to the PressureFab factory in Dundee failed, and Mr Kay sued for £480,000 unpaid rent from Mr Twickler for the remainder of the six-year lease.
Mr Twickler said the sum was impossible for Houston’s to raise, prompting Mr Kay to sue for Houston’s liquidation.
“I think the unpaid rental sum was unrealistic given that the premises were re-let after a few months,” Mr Twickler said yesterday.
“I didn’t know about the six-year lease when I took over, but the deal had to be done quickly and there wasn’t time for me to do due diligence. If the deal hadn’t been done quickly 25 people would have lost their jobs that Christmas.
“Through PresureFab I provided nearly £400,000 of support to Houston’s because I wanted the company to succeed. I committed far more than the £28,000 stated as being due to me in the list of creditors.
He added: “I still believe that it would have been possible to save Houston’s, and I am angry that this did not happen.
“I am also disappointed that more than 30 creditors have lost money.”
Mr Kay said yesterday: “I have no comment to make.”
The biggest creditor was Gemini Corrosion Services of Montrose, which was owed £58,257. It declined to comment.