Legal action adds to modular firm’s woes

Yorkshire-based developer Harworth has filed a winding-up petition against modular firm TopHat.

A petition was filed at the High Court on 15 July by Harworth Estates Residential Development Limited against TopHat Enterprises Ltd.

The case will be heard at the business and property courts in Leeds next week (13 August), with Harworth claiming it is a creditor of TopHat.

Tophat-oct19-002

TopHat is yet to be profitable

A winding up petition is a legal action that can be taken by a creditor against a company that owes it £750 or more.

Winding up orders are serious legal actions and can lead to a company’s bank accounts being frozen.

If the order is made, then Haworth could seek to appoint an insolvency practitioner to liquidate TopHat, although this option is typically a last resort.

Harworth is being represented by Addleshaw Goddard.

The court action is the latest blow for TopHat, which in March opened a consultation with staff as it planned to make 70 redundancies.

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The business has yet to be profitable and posted a £20.4m pre-tax loss for the year to 31 October 2022. 

Its struggles come on the back of a number of modular firms collapsing over the course of the last year.

Haworth has been approached for comment. TopHat declined to comment.