Marlow & Crane Interiors Ltd
A Manchester fit-out contractor undone by retentions held upstream. Cash that showed as owed never arrived, and a winding-up petition followed.
What the data was telling us
Readings from The Gazette and Companies House, in the firm's final two years.
Lessons behind the liquidation
Cash retained by main contractors sat on the balance sheet as an asset while never arriving as cash.
By the time a winding-up petition is advertised, the working-capital gap has usually been open for months.
A small number of large main-contractor relationships meant one delayed payment reshaped the whole cash position.
Fit-out and interiors subcontractors with high retention balances and a single dominant customer entered compulsory liquidation within 24 months in 49% of comparable cases.
Every charge, every filing, every appointment, in one dossier.
Director histories across related entities, the full debenture instrument, creditor estimates, and the practitioner's record on comparable cases.