St Pancras station builder collapses but Butterley name survives
00:00 22 Apr 2009
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Crane manufacturer Wellman Booth has stepped in to save the historic Butterley Engineering name after the steel fabricator collapsed last month with debts of more than £2m.
The steel fabricating and crane building business was established 219 years ago and erected the world famous widespan steelwork at St Pancras Station in London. It is the oldest construction firm to become a casualty of the recession.
More than 100 staff have been laid off as administrators battle to sell off Butterley's assets to pay the £2.1m owed to creditors.
Administrators from Grant Thornton have raised funds from selling manufacturing assets and the Butterley name, but trade creditors are only expected to get 2p in the pound.
A former Butterley employee said: "It is a real shame that our firm is gone. We always used to say Butterley was the best-kept secret in the engineering world.
"Basically, the orders dried up and creditors wanted their money, so the directors called in the administrators."
Butterley also boasted a portfolio of high-profile engineering projects, such as the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, the Falkirk Wheel and, most recently, the Stratford City arch in London.
The deal struck means the Butterley name, among the oldest in UK engineering, is set live on at least in the heavy-duty crane world.
Wellman Booth specialises in overhead cranes for nuclear and other specialist applications.
A spokesman for Wellman Booth said: "Butterley and Wellman Booth had several mutual clients. We acquired the Butterley assets to ensure comprehensive service to those clients in the future."