Manchester apartment block owner racked up £40m of debt before collapsing into administration

The company behind an apartment building on the edge of Manchester city centre racked up almost £40m in debt as it collapsed into administration, it has been revealed.

The business was behind the 13-storey Sky Gardens development in Chester Road which includes 166 flats. BDO was appointed to oversee the process at DeTrafford Sky Gardens earlier this year.

In a newly-filed document with Companies House, BDO revealed that secured creditor Daiwa was owed £25.1m while Maslow was owed £11m. Other secured creditors were also owed £249,000. Unsecured creditors were owed £2.4m, the document also shows.

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BDO added that it's estimated that Daiwa will be the only creditor to receive any or part of their money back. That is currently forecast to be just £8.5m.

The company was set up in 2014 and is owned and controlled by Gary Jackson, DeTrafford's founder and chief executive. The special purpose vehicle was created for the development of the apartment block in Chester Road, Castlefield.

The property includes 166 flats, two commercial units and basement car parking. It does not have any employees.

When BDO was appointed, 36 of the apartments had not been sold. In December 2016, Daiwa provided a loan facility of £28m to the company to fund the development.

In August 2019, main contractor Pochin Construction was placed into administration and ceased to trade. DT Construction, an associated company, was then appointed as the main contractor which was then required to hire a new team and deploy resources from other projects.

BDO said: "Construction identified further errors with the design of the building which required correction, which led to further delays