www.pwc.co.uk/bromford In accordance with Paragraph 49 of Schedule B1 of the Insolvency Act 1986 Bromford Iron and Steel and Rule 3.35 of the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 Company Limited (in administration) Date: 30 September 2019 High Court of Justice Anticipated to be delivered on: Business and Property Courts in Birmingham 30 September 2019 Insolvency & Companies List (ChD) Case No. CR-2019-BHM-000762 Joint administrators’ proposals for achieving the purpose of administration Contents Abbreviations and definitions 1 Why we’ve prepared this document 3 A summary of what you could recover 4 Brief history of the Company and why it’s in administration 5 What we’ve done so far and what’s next if our proposals are approved 8 Estimated financial position 12 Statutory and other information 13 Appendix A: Pre-administration costs 14 Appendix B: Copy of our report to creditors on the sale of the business and assets 15 Appendix C: Summary estimated financial position including creditors’ details 16 Notice to creditors seeking decisions by correspondence 18 Common questions and answers about the decisions we are seeking, including the approval of the Administrators’ proposals 21 Proof of debt 24 Bromford Iron and Steel Company Limited (in administration) Joint Administrators’ proposals for achieving the purpose of administration Bromford Iron and Steel Company Limited (in administration) Joint Administrators’ proposals for achieving the purpose of administration Abbreviations and definitions The following table shows the abbreviations and insolvency terms that may be used in this document: Abbreviation or definition Meaning Administrators/we/us/our Michael Thomas Denny and David Matthew Hammond both of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Cornwall Court, 19 Cornwall Street B3 2DT Close Brothers Close Brothers Limited, a secured creditor BEIS Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Brockhouse Brockhouse Group Limited Company Bromford Iron and Steel Company Limited CVL Creditors’ voluntary liquidation D&J D&J (Steels) Limited – in administration Group Group of companies owned by Original Steel Services Limited and consisting of D&J (Steels) Limited, Brockhouse Group Limited and the Company collectively HMRC HM Revenue & Customs IA86 Insolvency Act 1986 IR16 Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 preferential creditors Primarily employee claims for unpaid wages earned in the four months before the insolvency up to £800, holiday pay and unpaid pension contributions in certain circumstances prescribed part The amount set aside for unsecured creditors from floating charge funds in accordance with Section 176A IA86 and the Insolvency Act 1986 (Prescribed Part) Order 2003 Purchaser Bromford Iron Limited PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP RPS Redundancy Payments Service, part of the Insolvency Service, which is an executive agency sponsored by BEIS, and which authorises and pays the statutory claims of employees of insolvent companies under the Employment Rights Act 1996 Sch B1 IA86 Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986 secured creditor A creditor with security in respect of their debt, in accordance with Section 248 IA86 SIP Statement of Insolvency Practice. SIPs are issued to insolvency practitioners under procedures agreed between the insolvency regulatory authorities. SIPs set out principles and key compliance standards with which insolvency practitioners are required to comply. SIP 9 Statement of Insolvency Practice 9: Payments to insolvency office holders and their associates SIP 13 Statement of Insolvency Practice 13: Disposal of assets to connected parties in an insolvency process 1 Bromford Iron and Steel Company Limited (in administration) Joint Administrators’ proposals for achieving the purpose of administration Abbreviation or definition Meaning SIP 16 Statement of Insolvency Practice 16: Pre-packaged sales in administrations SPA The agreement for the sale and purchase of the business and assets of the Company dated 23 September 2019 and made between Bromford Iron and Steel Company Limited (in administration), Michael Thomas Denny and David Matthew Hammond and Bromford Iron Limited TopCo Original Steel Services Limited TUPE Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 unsecured creditors Creditors who are neither secured nor preferential 2 Bromford Iron and Steel Company Limited (in administration) Joint Administrators’ proposals for achieving the purpose of administration Why we’ve prepared this document On 23 September 2019, the Company went into administration and David Matthew Hammond and I were appointed as joint administrators. We tell you in this document why the Company was put into administration. We give you a brief history and set out our proposals for achieving the purpose of administration. We include details of the Company’s assets and liabilities, and say how likely we are to be able to pay each class of creditor. According to IA86, the purpose of an administration is to achieve one of these objectives: (a) rescuing the company as a going concern, or if that is not possible or if (b) would achieve a better result for the creditors than (a) (b) achieving a better result for the company’s creditors as a whole than would be likely if the company were wound up (without first being in administration), or finally, if that is not possible (c) realising the company’s assets to pay a dividend to secured or preferential creditors. In this case, we’re following objective (b), to achieve a better result for creditors than would be likely if the Company were wound up (without first being in administration), as it was not reasonably practical to rescue the Company as a going concern. Our job is to manage the Company until creditors agree our proposals for achieving the purpose of administration and we’ve implemented them so far as possible. After that the administration will end. The whole of this document and its appendices form our statement of proposals for achieving the purpose of administration. We are seeking creditors’ decisions by correspondence on the following matters: The approval of our proposals for achieving the purpose of administration; and That a creditors’ committee should not be formed. Please see the decision notice enclosed with these proposals for further information. If you’ve got any questions, please get in touch with my colleague, Kate Whitham, on 0113 289 4162. Signed ………………………………… Joint Administrator of Bromford Iron and Steel Company Limited Michael Thomas Denny and David Matthew Hammond have been appointed as joint administrators of Bromford Iron and Steel Company Limited to manage its affairs, business and property as its agents and act without personal liability. Michael Thomas Denny and David Matthew Hammond are licensed in the United Kingdom to act as insolvency practitioners by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. The joint administrators are bound by the Insolvency Code of Ethics which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/insolvency-practitioner-code-of-ethics The joint administrators may act as Data Controllers of personal data as defined by UK data protection law depending upon the specific processing activities undertaken. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP may act as processor on the instructions of the joint administrators. Personal data will be kept secure and processed only for matters relating to the joint administrators' appointment. Further details are available in the privacy statement on the PwC.co.uk website or by contacting the joint administrators. 3 Bromford Iron and Steel Company Limited (in administration) Joint Administrators’ proposals for achieving the purpose of administration A summary of what you could recover Estimated outcome for secured creditors What secured creditors are owed: £544,000 * Recovery Forecast timing What we think secured creditors could recover: 100% 6-12 months * before termination charges and debt collection costs. Estimated dividend prospects For preferential creditors: Not applicable Not applicable For unsecured creditors: Up to 3% 9-12 months This is a brief summary of the possible outcome for creditors based on what we know so far. You shouldn’t use it as the main basis of any bad debt provision or debt trading. Please read the rest of this document. 4 Bromford Iron and Steel Company Limited (in administration) Joint Administrators’ proposals for achieving the purpose of administration Brief history of the Company and why it’s in administration We’ve enclosed at Appendix B the information required to be provided to you by SIP16. Some of that information is repeated below where beneficial or necessary to do so, for the purpose of these proposals. Background The Company was a producer of hot rolled steel sections to customers in various industries, particularly equestrian, transport and agricultural. It operated from premises in West Bromwich, in the West Midlands. The Company is part of the group of companies owned by Original Steel Services Limited. As well as the Company, the Group also consisted of a steel stockholder, D&J (Steels) Limited, and a forging business, Brockhouse Group Limited. We were appointed administrators of D&J on 11 September 2019. A pre-pack sale to an unconnected party, Barrett Steels Limited, was completed on appointment. This sale was on a going concern basis and included the business, all tangible assets and all employees under TUPE. As a result, D&J is no longer trading as part of the Group. Brockhouse is still part of the Group. The Company’s main customer was Royal Kerckhaert Horseshoe Factory in the Netherlands, which historically provided c.30% of turnover. The draft accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2019 reported a loss of £658k, with further losses of £80k accruing during the first two months of the current financial year. The circumstances leading to our appointment In addition to trading losses described above, the Company had built up liabilities to trade suppliers in the region of £2m. This was due to an element of creditor stretch and, more significantly, to the removal of credit insurance which generated an immediate working capital need which the Company was unable to absorb.