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21
Jun 2023
Flaxby firm Ilke Homes files administration notice
Ilke Homes, the manufacturer of modular housing based at Flaxby, near Knaresborough, has filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator as a deadline to save hundreds of jobs approaches.
The company has been looking for a buyer since running into financial difficulties it attributed to “volatile macro-economic conditions and issues with the planning system”, which had “complicate[d] fundraising and housing delivery”.
The Stray Ferret understands the company has been offered to potential buyers for bids over £1, and some major house-builders have been approached.
Any bids for the business will need to be submitted before the end of this week, when the firm’s existing backers will decide the firm’s future.
If no deal is forthcoming, the company could enter administration in 10 days.
Ilke Homes said it needed additional funding to fulfil a £1 billion order book and to protect jobs, adding that new investment was needed to build its pipeline of 4,200 new homes.
The company specialises in modular housing that is built in its factory and then put together on site in a process that saves time and costs, reduces carbon emissions, and is not weather-dependent.
Earlier this month, the company told most of the nearly 1,000 employees at its 250,000 sq ft factory not to come into work until further notice, although they have reportedly remained on full pay.
Ilke Homes was established in 2017 and opened its Flaxby factory the following year. Since then, it has built up a client base that includes major institutional investors, housing associations, developers and local councils.
In 2021, the company raised £60 million in investment, half via a loan from government agency Homes England and half from investors.
A year later, it raised a record-breaking £100 million from new and existing shareholders, following successive years of triple-digit growth.
Read more:
- Negotiations continue to find buyer for Knaresborough housebuilder
- Knaresborough housebuilder up for sale as operations paused
- Staff sent home as Knaresborough housebuilder seeks urgent investment
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