Cash call angers Verry creditors

Subcontractors owed more than £19m following the fall of Verry Construction are being asked to pay for a creditors' meeting to hear if they will get any cash back.

Administrators at BDO Stoy Hayward have warned the hundreds of trade contractors owed money by Verry that they are unlikely to get a penny.

A report was circulated to subcontractors last week about Verry's dire finances and joint administrator Geoff Kinlan said: "I do not propose to call a meeting of creditors, as there will be insufficient property to enable a dividend to be paid to unsecured creditors.

"If at least 10% of the creditors require me to call a meeting I will require a deposit towards the cost of convening the meeting."

One angry creditor said: "It's another kick in the teeth. We're already owed a fortune, now we have to pay more money to hear the bad news officially and get a chance to have our say.

"It's a bit rich when you look through the forms and see that the administrators have already earned nearly £200,000 in fees from this."

BDO is having to work on estimates of cash owed to creditors because former Verry directors have still not submitted a statement of company affairs despite being asked for details on 5 May.

The report states: "To date the joint administrators have been notified of amounts due from creditors in the sum of £19.023m, although no audit or detailed verification work has been carried out on these figures at this time and no comment can be made as to the accuracy of this information."