White Horse Surveyors administrators appointed as firm folds

Multiple former employees and customers of White Horse Surveyors Limited, which is registered in Stroud but had its head office on Bumpers Way in Chippenham, have claimed they were either not paid for their final weeks of work or have not been refunded for work that was not carried out.

The firm ceased trading due to “severe cashflow issues” on October 31 and James Hawksworth and Terence Guy Jackson, of RSM Restructuring Advisory LLP, have since been named joint administrators.

They are currently exploring the potential sale of the whole or part of the business, and all 50 members of staff were made redundant following their appointment on November 17.

Prior to this announcement, some staff raised concerns that they had allegedly not been paid for the month of October and that many had been left struggling with “no income.”

An email that appeared to be sent to employees from CEO Luisa Desousa in early November warned that “no salary payments” could be made at that time.

White Horse Surveyors in Chippenham (Image: Trevor Porter)

After they ceased trading, the surveying company, which had been operating for 15 years, warned that no refunds could be processed at that time.

In an automatic email to customers, it said: “We are in discussions regarding next steps at present.

“Unfortunately due to our position we are unable to process any refunds, complete any report or carry out any further inspections.

“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this has caused.”

One of the customers allegedly left out of pocket by the firm’s collapse was Jonny Corbett, from Corsham.

He claims he paid around £400 for a survey that was carried out on October 30, but that he did not receive the results because of the situation.

White Horse Surveyors in Chippenham (Image: Trevor Porter)

He said: “It leaves a bit of a bad taste really, we’ll find another one but it’s a bit annoying because we paid a few hundred quid to have them do it.”

The administrators emphasised they are working to support employees and customers through the fallout of the company folding.

Mr Hawksworth, a partner at RSM UK, said: “Unfortunately due to extremely tough trading conditions in the property market, the company was unable to meet its liabilities resulting in it falling into administration.

“We are working hard to support employees, realise the assets of the company, and to address customer and creditor queries.”