Sparks Fly as Durham Metal Firm Collapses Following Financial Downturn...
County Durham Fabrication Business Goes Bust With Almost Half a Million Pounds in Short-Term Debts
26th October 2026
A County Durham Fabrication Company has collapsed Into Liquidation as its financial Accounts Reveal Nearly Half a Million Pounds of Short-Term Debts are Outstanding...
Durata Fabrication Ltd, formerly known as Tolley Fabrications Ltd, has appointed two insolvency practitioners to oversee the winding-up of the business, which was registered at Unit S6, Tursdale Business Park, near Durham.
According to an official insolvency notice published on 23rd October 2026, Ian James Royle and David Adam Broadbent, both of BTG Begbies Traynor (Central) LLP in Stockton-on-Tees, were appointed joint liquidators on the 15th October 2026.
The company, incorporated in April 2014, operated in the manufacture of fabricated metal products. However, an examination by the Teesside & Durham Post of the company's latest accounts, filed with Companies House in January 2026, reveals its financial position had deteriorated considerably before the liquidation.
From £169,000 in Positive Reserves to Almost £39,000 in the Red
By the end of March 2024, the business reported positive shareholder funds of £169,152, however, strangely, By the 30th of June 2025, that figure had fallen to negative £38,605, representing a deterioration of over £200k
The latest balance sheet also revealed that the company's current liabilities vastly overtook its current assets by a substantial margin, with almost haklf a million pounds in creditors falling due within one year, with the figures suggesting that the company was already experiencing significant financial pressure long before it was plunged into liquidation, with its short-term liabilities exceeding its current assets by more than £176,000.
Trade creditors are also said to be owed £182,896, while a further £158,879 was recorded as amounts owed to participating interests.
A further £113,948 was owed under hire-purchase agreements falling due after more than one year.
Although the business held substantial assets on paper, including machinery and other equipment, its claimed those assets would not necessarily have been readily available to meet immediate the firms financial obligations.
A Change of Ownership Followed by Financial Difficulties..
The company's history also reveals a change of ownership and management back in 2025.
Originally incorporated as Tolley Fabrications Ltd in April 2014, the business underwent a corporate structure change back in May 2025 when Durata Group Ltd was registered as a person with significant control.
Companies House records show that former directors Alan Tolley and Claire Tolley left their positions on 13 May 2025.
John David McGee and Alison Louise McGee were appointed directors on the same date.
The business then subsequently adopted the Durata Fabrication name, although further changes to its registered name then took place during 2026, however, just over 17 months after the change of control took place, the company entered creditors' voluntary liquidation.
Bank Charge Registered Just One Day Before Liquidation
However one notable development uncovered in the company's public filings concerns a charge registered in favour of Santander UK plc.
Companies House records confirm that a charge was created and registered on the 14th October 2026 — just one day before the appointment of liquidators.
The charge includes fixed and floating security, with the floating charge described as covering the company's property or undertaking.
Such arrangements are designed to give a lender security over business assets and is likley to affect how any money is distributed to its creditors, esopecially when a company becomes insolvent.
With the company now in creditors' voluntary liquidation, the appointed insolvency practitioners are now said to be tasked with identifying and realising the firms assets, as well as establishing liabilities and distributing any available funds in accordance with insolvency law.
The latest financial statements recorded an average of 12 employees during the 15-month accounting period, compared with 10 during the preceding financial year, with the available financial records revealing a business that had moved from positive shareholder funds to net liabilities, with significant short-term debts and very limited immediate liquidity at its last reported balance-sheet date.
The news also comes just days after it was reported Sara Davies, a business founded by former Dragon’s Den and Strictly Come Dancing star Sara Davies herself in Newton Aycliffe County Durham, went into liquidation with the loss of 58 jobs, marking yet more turmoil in ther local economy & coming just weeks before christmas.
