Administrators are looking to see what can be salvaged from the assets of Telford based Citadel Security Products after being appointed earlier this month.

The company went into administration on February 7 with representatives from Stourbridge based Elwell Watchorn and Saxton appointed to take control of the company’s affairs.

 
It is believed that all staff, amounting to some 50, have been made redundant and rumours were that there was little hope of the company being resurrected.

 
Citadel had invested heavily in plant and factory buildings after it moved to the 36,500 sq. ft. site six years ago as part of expansion plans.

 
A new management team had been appointed early last year with Stephen Shipley taking on the role of managing director and James Timlin being appointed group managing director, both were formerly with Sheffield based Betafence.

A few days after going into administration, Timlin issued the following statement:
‘It’s no secret that the home market has been difficult for wholesalers for a number of years and Citadel is by no means immune, but this was traditionally mitigated by strong export sales. Export sales were very low in 2016 due to global oil prices; this was compounded by low demand in Q4, which resulted in a critical cash flow problem. Unfortunately despite our best efforts we were unable to recover and had to make a difficult decision. Obviously it’s a difficult situation for all concerned.’

 

There had been rumours in the industry towards the end of last year that Citadel was encountering trading problems but these had been dismissed by management as ‘garbage’.