Founder blames cancelled projects and “culture of undercutting” for sending firm under
London practice pH+ has gone into liquidation with debts of £239,000 four months after winning a RIBA South East award.
Building Design’s 2018 Housing Architect of the Year said it had been forced under by cancelled projects and a squeeze on fees “fuelled by a culture of undercutting”.
Founded in 2005 by Andy Puncher and Drew Hamilton, the bulk of the firm’s work was in the residential sector. It also designed mixed-use, office and education schemes.
It was named the winner of BD’s housing award for four mixed-use schemes, including Pinnacle N10 in Muswell Hill and Bayford Mews in Hackney.
It was also nominated for the category in 2019, and was a winner of a RIBA South East award this year for Waterfield House.
Puncher said the practice had been put under pressure in recent years by economic uncertainty and inflation.
“Rising build costs and decreasing resale values have squeezed project viability making it difficult for clients to sell the potential of projects to their increasingly cautious investors,” he said.
“Within development appraisals, there has been a continuous squeeze on consultant’s fees which has been fuelled by a culture of undercutting”
“Ultimately the business was unable to continue as projects were paused and then cancelled, invoices remained unpaid, and fees were continually undercut.”
Total debts at the time of liquidation consisted of £99,000 for redundancy and notice pay to employees, £84,600 to unsecured creditors, £44,200 to HMRC and £10,600 to employees’ wages, holiday pay arrears and pensions.
Liquidator Peter Charalambous of Kallis Insolvency Practitioners said: “Architecture firms with a weakened balance sheet post covid are operating in a very tough trading environment.
“Despite a rich trading history with many successes, for Ph+ a combination of bad debts and the uncertainty over future work meant that the director has no option but to place the company into creditors voluntary liquidation”
The practice’s most recent accounts filed to the end of July 2022 it said it had an average of 17 employees, down from 18 the previous year.
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