More shocking details of Douglas & Gordon Ltd’s administration revealed

Many creditors will get nothing, including landlords for the company's 12 former offices, as administrators receive almost £750,000.

douglas and gordon

More details about the administration of Douglas & Gordon have emerged, including a date for the company to be dissolved.

James Evans

The firm entered administration in February last year before its CEO James Evans bought the firm for £515,000, less than a week later, through a new enterprise called Brewham Holdings Ltd.

The new ‘Douglas & Gordon’ now trades as a London estate agency, offering sales and lettings, with a head office in Chelsea. Its sales division had split from the more profitable lettings business when new owners Foxtons sold it to Evans in January 2022.

The period of administration for Douglas and Gordon Limited has now been extended until 23 February 2025, after which the company will be dissolved.

£1m claims

But a new report from administrators Grant Thornton gives an update on the financial state of the business, some of which makes for jaw-dropping reading.

It includes details of 154 unsecured creditors, excluding employees, who have made claims totalling more than £1 million, but that they are unlikely to receive any payment.

Douglas and Gordon Limited leased 12 offices but the landlords, as unsecured creditors, are very unlikely to  receive any payment towards outstanding rent.

HMRC is owed £581,000, but it isn’t clear how much of that bill will be paid, the report says.

£817 an hour

If anyone has made money from the administration, it’s Grant Thornton. The firms fees have been capped at £450,000, plus expenses of almost £300,000 achieved through an average fee of £533 per hour, but some hours are charged as much as £817.

Fifty staff from the sales team, which was the majority, were made redundant, and only 15 other company staff retained, an earlier report detailed.

Read the latest Grant Thornton report here.


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