Years after the firm’s second collapse in August 2022, a failure that cost more than 400 jobs, administrators have confirmed that unsecured creditors received a dividend of just 1.89p in the pound.

McGill owed more than £17m when it folded, citing tightening market conditions, delayed payments on major contracts and a winter downturn in billable work. Despite attempts to secure emergency funding, the business ran out of cash and entered administration.

Administrators received £14.3m in unsecured claims. The final payout shared among them amounted to only £270,210, leaving the overwhelming majority of debts unpaid.

By contrast, secured creditor Santander recovered £2.4m of the £2.7m it was owed, while preferential creditors, including staff wage claims, were repaid in full at £343,000.

The administration realised:

• £1.4m from property sales
• £159,700 from plant and machinery
• £3.2m from book debts

However, the process was costly. Administrators’ fees totalled £850,000, with a further £50,000+ in expenses. Agent and legal fees exceeded £650,000.

After the initial collapse in February 2019, Dundee businessman Graeme Carling acquired McGill from administration – but the revived company itself failed three years later, adding another chapter to the firm’s troubled recent history.

In their final report, administrator Geoffrey Isaac of Interpath Ltd confirmed that the administration is now complete and the company will be dissolved three months after the Registrar of Companies processes the final documents.