The prospect of a Torsion Projects administration has moved closer after the company reportedly filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, following sister company Torsion Construction’s collapse in July.

The latest development comes as Torsion Construction’s administrators reveal £15.57 million owed to trade creditors and warn that a dividend to unsecured creditors is highly unlikely.

Both companies form part of the Leeds-based Torsion Group, but they are separate legal entities. The latest notice concerns Torsion Projects, rather than an administration of the whole group.

Torsion Projects administration notice follows winding-up petition

Torsion Projects specialises in building care homes, retirement living developments and residential schemes. Its latest filed accounts recorded turnover of £47 million for the year ending 31 December 2024, compared with £36.8 million the previous year.

In July 2026, construction equipment supplier YardLink presented a winding-up petition against the company. Torsion Group said this concerned a commercial dispute, that all undisputed sums had been paid and that it would defend the proceedings.

The reported notice of intention to appoint administrators marks a further development. An administrator appointment for Torsion Projects had not been independently confirmed at the time of checking on 6 October 2026. The Companies House filing history available at that time did not show an appointment. find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk

Torsion Construction: rapid growth, thin margins

James Clark and Howard Smith of Interpath were appointed administrators of Torsion Construction on 29 July 2026, following a notice of intention filed on 20 July.

Their proposals, dated 8 September, show that turnover increased from £57 million in the year ending June 2023 to £117.2 million in 2024 and £165.4 million in 2025.

However, operating profit margins remained between 0.5% and 0.7%. In 2025, the company generated approximately £1.09 million in operating profit on £165.4 million of turnover.

The administrators describe rising costs, slower construction activity and development sales, together with problems on individual sites that caused overspending or delays. Unaudited management accounts for the ten months ending 30 April 2026 showed an operating loss of approximately £3.95 million.

The growth in turnover had not provided sufficient protection against project losses and pressure on cash.

Funding withdrawn as creditor pressure increased

According to the administrators’ report, HSBC ceased acting as a lender in early 2026. Torsion Construction subsequently obtained an invoice finance facility from Bibby Financial Services, but that facility was withdrawn in May.

Direct payment arrangements between development funders and subcontractors helped maintain project delivery and protected some supply-chain payments. However, they also reduced the working capital available to Torsion Construction.

The directors identified a funding requirement of approximately £6 million to keep the business trading. With no alternative funding secured and creditor pressure increasing, administration followed.

Interpath concluded that continuing to trade in administration was not viable. Customers intended to terminate contracts, immediate funding was unavailable and additional trading costs were unlikely to improve recoveries for creditors.

Of the company’s 115 employees, 108 were made redundant immediately. The remaining seven, retained briefly to assist the wind-down, were made redundant by 18 August.

Trade creditors owed £15.6 million

The statement of affairs lists £15,566,674 owed to unsecured trade creditors, separate from unsecured loans, connected-company claims and employee liabilities.

The administrators are seeking to recover construction debts and balances owed by related companies. However, the amounts recorded as assets do not establish what can actually be collected or what will reach unpaid suppliers.

Their assessment is that a dividend to unsecured creditors is highly unlikely. Suppliers and subcontractors therefore face receiving nothing through the administration towards their outstanding accounts.

The reasons for Torsion Construction’s failure are documented in its administrators’ report. Those findings cannot automatically be applied to Torsion Projects, whose financial position and creditor exposure have yet to be established through an administrators’ report.

NPD Comment

Turnover is not a measure of a customer’s ability to pay. Torsion Construction reached £165 million in annual sales, yet its operating margin remained below 1%. That left little room for project losses, delays or a withdrawal of funding.

This is why credit monitoring needs to be continuous. A credit check when an account is opened is only a starting point. Changes in financial information, overdue invoices, broken payment promises and creditor action should all prompt a review of outstanding exposure and further credit.

If Torsion Projects proceeds into administration, there is a serious risk of another substantial body of unsecured creditors being left with unpaid accounts. The amount owed remains unknown, but Torsion Construction’s suppliers already face the prospect of receiving nothing towards £15.6 million of trade debts.

Why is ongoing credit monitoring important after an account has been opened?

A car can pass its MOT today and be unroadworthy tomorrow. The same principle applies to a credit check: it reflects the information available at the time, but circumstances can change quickly.

In today’s volatile markets, ongoing monitoring and regular reviews of credit limits are critical, especially with your larger customers, where unpaid invoices can cause the greatest damage to your own business.

Sometimes prevention is the only cure.

What should suppliers with unpaid Torsion Projects invoices do now?

Once the insolvency protection takes effect, ordinary creditor legal action is blocked. If administration follows, unsecured suppliers should prepare to write off their unpaid invoices.

Torsion Construction’s administrators already consider an unsecured dividend highly unlikely. Although the position at Torsion Projects has yet to be established, suppliers should not budget on recovering that money.

What are the chances of an unsecured creditor getting paid?

Realistically, unsecured creditors dividends are as rare as Rocking Horse Dung, even where a dividend is made, it may cover only a small fraction of the outstanding debt.

A Torsion Projects administration could leave another substantial body of unsecured creditors with unpaid accounts. The amount owed remains unknown, but Torsion Construction’s suppliers already face the prospect of receiving nothing towards £15.6 million of trade debts.