Lowestoft firm owed £250k as SMS-Alderley crashes into administration

S&G Fabrications says it is owed a quarter of a million pounds by Specialised Management Services (SMS)-Alderley, in Gorleston.

The Norfolk business, a manufacturer for the oil and gas industry, went under last month, leading to hundreds of job losses. 

Dave Hayes, a director at S&G Fabrications, said the company is one of dozens of local businesses to be owed thousands by the firm.

READ MORE: Norfolk firm collapses into administration - leading to hundreds of job losses

"We've been seriously affected and we might not come out of it," Mr Hayes said. "We're circa £250,000 in a black hole with them. 

Dave Hayes, director of S&G Fabrications in Lowestoft, with a unit his company was making for SMS-Alderley before the firm went under (Image: Denise Bradley)

"We've dealt with them for the last 20 years and we've been one of their main suppliers of fabrication, stainless and mild steel locally. Up until several years ago 80pc of all our work came through them.

"We haven't been paid in excess of four months now even though two-and-a-half weeks ago they set up a payment plan to pay us over the next ten weeks.

"After the first payment nothing happened, and two weeks later we got a phone call from one of their engineers to say staff had been given an hour to vacate the premises."

S&G Fabrications in Horn Hill, Lowestoft (Image: Denise Bradley)

SMS-Alderley at Gorleston's Beacon Park (Image: Adam Barker)

SMS was headquartered at Gorleston's Beacon Park, with bases in Aberdeen and Bristol. 

Its parent company Alderley PLC, a multi-disciplined engineering firm, also entered administration on July 24.

"The easiest thing for us would have been to blame them, shut our doors and say goodbye," Mr Hayes said. 

"But that didn't sit well with us, having our local suppliers who we owe money to ourselves. Around 90pc of our suppliers are local. 

Dave Burrows, workshop manager at S&G Fabrications in Lowestoft, welding in the workshop (Image: Denise Bradley)

"We've had to cut everything back to the bone to try to come out the other end of this. 

"My staff have gone from working around 12 to 14 hours overtime a week three weeks ago to be on a basic flat week for the foreseeable future.

"We're trying to finish other projects that we've got over a six to eight weeks timescale to see if we can survive."

READ MORE: Another Norfolk-based insurance firm acquired by Alan Boswell Group

Dave Hayes, director of S&G Fabrications in Lowestoft (Image: Denise Bradley)

S&G Fabrications, which employs 14 staff, was founded in 1974 but was bought by its current directors in 2005. 

"In February next year we would've been putting 'celebrating our 20-year anniversary' on all our paperwork," Mr Hayes said.

"It's going to be a long laborious process going through the administrator."

Dave Burrows, workshop manager at S&G Fabrications in Lowestoft, welding in the workshop (Image: Denise Bradley)

SMS-ALDERLEY

Formed in 1999, Specialised Management Services (SMS) manufactured equipment and provided maintenance and installation services for the oil and gas industry, specialising in hydraulic, pneumatic and electrical control systems. 

It was headquartered at Starling House, off Lancelot Road, at Gorleston's Beacon Park.

SMS was acquired by its parent company Alderley PLC, based in Gloucestershire, in 2003. Both Alderley Plc and Alderley Systems entered administration alongside SMS-Alderley on July 24. 

SMS-Alderley, based at Starling House, off Lancelot Road, Gorleston (Image: Adam Barker)

Alderley was founded in 1989 by Bristol businessman Tony Shepherd, who named the business after his home village, Alderley. Mr Shepherd died in 2020. 

Alderley had bases in the UK, India, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and Qatar. 

The exact number of job losses at SMS-Alderley is unknown but it is believed to be in the hundreds, with staff being told just days before the end of the month. 

Joint administrators were called in on July 24 (Image: Adam Barker)

A statement on the SMS and Alderley websites reads: "The affairs, business and property of Alderley PLC (APLC), Alderley Systems Ltd (ASL) and Specialised Management Services Limited (SMS) are being managed by Alistair Wardell, Richard Lewis and Rob Parker appointed as joint administrators.

"The joint administrators act as agents of APLC, ASL and SMS and without personal liability. Alistair Wardell, Richard Lewis and Rob Parker are authorised by the IPA to act as insolvency practitioners."

Both SMS-Alderley and Alderley were contacted for comment.