WHP Engineering has entered administration following a years’ long financial struggle.
The ISO and GMP cleanroom solutions provider’s financial distress has mainly been attributed to an "onerous" contract entered into in 2021, according to administration documents.
Or as one anonymous employee wrote on Glassdoor in mid-2021: "[WHP] put eggs in a few big baskets."
This contract was originally slated for completion in July 2023, but remains incomplete at time of writing.
[WHP] put eggs in a few big baskets
UK-based WHP was founded in 2006 as WH Partnership, with major completed projects including one of the country’s largest modular cGMP builds.
CEO Ian Lichfield even scooped a management award win in 2019 for WHP’s work and in the same year took on a milestone project for UK's Satellite Applications Catapult project.
However, Administrator Christopher Petts, speaking with BusinessLive, said: “Despite its scale and the success achieved over recent years, the severe impact of COVID-19 and recent pressures, including factors such as a contract which was loss-making and the failure of a key sub-contractor, meant that WHP was not in a financial position to continue trading and so we have had to make the difficult decision to cease operations."
The contract problems were against a "toxic atmosphere" backdrop
WHP turned to avenues such as additional funding from an unnamed customer.
However, an anticipated contract fell through at close of 2023, pushing the company into administration.
The contract problems were against a "toxic atmosphere" backdrop, according to reviews on Glassdoor.
One employee who worked there less than a year in 2019 said: "[The] company is growing rapidly which always brings with it some teething issues as new roles and responsibilities are established."
Other reviews stated high staff turnover and poor operations management as the reason for their negative experience at the company.
Lichfield’s team took home top prizes at 2019's BVCA Yorkshire & North East Management Team Awards. Pictured is Ian Lichfield and Dan Rosinke of awards' sponsor Grant Thornton, and Owen Trotter, Managing Partner of Key Capital Partners who chaired the judging panel
Administration
In December 2023, the cleanroom design and build expert was appointed an administrator, and the process began.
By the 28th December, 61 out of 63 employees were made redundant. This included directors:
- Nigel Ward
- David Walker
- Ryan Noble
- Trevor Murch
- Ian Lichfield
- Nigel Hall
Only two employees, both Directors, were kept on board to assist the administrators with their functions.
There were no buyers for the company as a whole, said administrators, meaning the company’s assets are likely to be sold off in a "piecemeal approach".
Employees move on
Former employee, Andy Worsick, who now works at Particle Measuring Systems, worked at WHP for 7 months in 2019 just before the pandemic.
Worsick observed: "There were some good people there and it's great to see news of many of them taking up new positions in the industry.”
Among former senior management, Nigel Hall, WHP’s one-time Managing Director, has partnered with fellow ex-WHP employees Richard Anderson and Project Manager Richard Graham to form Clean Design & Management in January 2024.
Hall announced his new position on LinkedIn at the start of March 2024: "I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Partner at Clean Design & Management! A design and management consultancy specialising in the life science and healthcare markets."