Liverpool family-owned M&E engineering firm HE Simm on brink of administration just two years after celebrating its 75th anniversary after reporting losses of more than £10m. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool family-owned M&E engineering firm HE Simm celebrated its 75th birthday just two years ago – but now it stands on the brink of administration.
Headquartered in Spinnaker House in Liverpool with offices in London and Manchester, HE Simm provides engineering services to the construction industry. One of its more recent high profile projects has been for developer X1 at Manchester Waters.
On Monday it was revealed the company had filed a notice in court of its intention to appoint administrators.
In its most recent annual accounts for the 17 months to December 31, 2023, posted on Companies House, HE Simm revealed pre-tax losses of more than £10m and revenues of more than £118m.
In the previous year it had reported a pre-tax profit of almost £900,000. In the report it said: “The company was significantly impacted by high inflation pressures on fixed price contracts while also experiencing performance issues on a number of legacy projects located in London.”
It added that directors planned to shore up the company’s balance sheet by injecting £4m of liquid assets during 2024.
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HE Simm was founded in 1948 by Ernie Simm after acquiring George Hockenhall Plumbing in Liverpool with a loan of £200. He renamed the business in honour of his father Harold Edgar
It now offers MEP, fire and security installation, maintenance, offsite manufacture and H&S consultancy services to customers in sectors including residential, commercial, education, healthcare and custodial.
The business is still run by the Simm family. Gareth Simm, grandson of the founder is chief executive while his brother Greg is managing director. At the time of the last accounts, the business employed 184 people.
LBN has contacted HE Simm for comment.