In June 2019, Grant Thornton, the Administrators of Quinn Radiators Limited, engaged Gordon Brothers to assist with the closure of the Company’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Wales and to manage the marketing and disposition of the related plant, machinery and inventory assets.

The 1.1 million-square-metre facility in Newport, once trumpeted as the largest radiator manufacturing plant in the world,¹ had more than 170,000 unsold radiators in stock when it entered Administration in June 2019.  The factory held two production lines with capacity to produce 3.5 million domestic radiators a year, alongside ancillary plant, packaging and handling machinery.  Capital investment in the production lines exceeded of €100 million.

Grant Thornton chose Gordon Brothers over competitor offerings due to our unparalleled expertise in the large-scale Industrial sector, our experience-driven advice, and our ability to manage the sale and clearance of the site and assets within an accelerated timescale.

Gordon Brothers generated competitive bids to maximise realisations for the client even during a depressed market.  The facility generated global interest in Turkey and India.  Due to the scale of the site and the significant ongoing costs to occupy it, the assets had to be sold and cleared within six months—well short of a typical 12-18-month timeframe for such a large, specialised task.  The client needed to maximise realisations but was also conscious of clearing the site safely.

Matthew Richards, Director, Advisory, Grant Thornton UK LLP, commented, “The Gordon Brothers team performed very well to manage the sale and removal of a large quantity of stock, and plant and machinery, over a six-month period, and ensured that anything that was not nailed down was sold to maximise value for the insolvent estate and creditors”.

In addition to managing the disposition, Gordon Brothers operated the site from day one and resolved issues quickly and efficiently; oversaw the retained factory staff of up to 40 professionals on site daily; and supervised security. Our operational management allowed the Administrators to focus on other priorities at that time. Furthermore, Gordon Brothers assisted the facility landlord in viewings by parties interested in the lease going forward.

All inventory, plant and machinery were successfully sold through a combination of private treaty and online auction, including a final scrap-out of unsellable assets, and stock from other sites in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The sales occurred within the aggressive six-month timeframe, surpassing client expectations.  No site incidents were reported, and an excellent multi-million asset realisation was achieved.

[1] Barry, Sion. “Radiator plant is to be the biggest,” WalesOnline, August 17, 2005.
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