08.02.2013

Quigley enters administration

We can now confirm that UK based crane rental company Quigley UK Lifting Services has appointed Bury based Leonard Curtis as administrator. The official documents were published yesterday.

The Runcorn based company was set up back in 2006 by brothers Shaun and Gary Quigley, after their previous crane business Quigley UK, ran into trouble from too rapid an expansion and high gearing. It was placed in the hands of an administrator who sold the business to the two brothers apparently without making any attempt to seek out alternative buyers.

Since then it has been providing a more modest crane hire and contract lifting service from its base in Merseyside and seemed to be doing OK, however a series of bad debts, poor rates and slow payers – including at least one major contractor – has brought the business down.
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Commenting on the decision to enter administration Shaun Quigley said: “The downturn in the market coupled with slow payments and a number of bad debts, the largest of which were MJN Colston and Airedale Mechanical which went into administration last year, all contributed to us filing for administration.”

Shaun Quigley says that he will now turn his attention towards his new contract lift and crane hire company Quality Contract Lifting which was set up in April 2011. Quigley is looking to acquire the assets and goodwill from the administrator for his new business. He also said that he will be looking to invest in cheaper and more economical cranes in the future. Gary Quigley has set up as a consultant operating under GQ Industrial Services, offering support and guidance to businesses in the construction sector that hire cranes.

Vertikal Comment

The Quigley family has a chequered history in the UK crane industry, father Jimmy Quigley ran Overmile Crane Hire, Jubilee Crane Hire, Dixons Crane Hire and then Dixons Universal Crane Hire which was acquired by Baldwins in the 1990s. They were also associated to Roger Taylor and long term partner in business, David Symon for a short while.

While the sons have been a lot more straightforward in their dealings, this is the second or third bankruptcy now, and there have been a good few creditors who have lost out each time. Hopefully the two new ventures that each has set up will be managed differently.

To see past reports on the Quigleys, simply put the word Quigley in the news search box on this website and press search.