Sheffield security firm IPM Group launched £1.3m cocktail bar before collapsing with £5.6m debt

Bosses at Intelligent Protection Management Group Ltd, known as IPM Group, launched Panenka at New Era Square with a glitzy party attended by Sheffield United stars in December.

The firm, based at Westthorpe Fields Road, Killamarsh, collapsed into administration in July. It was sold back to directors Rick Bailey and Gavin Page for £700,000, after shedding most of its debts.

Now, a report by administrators at insolvency firm Leonard Curtis reveals the true scale of its liabilities.

IPM Group owed £1.53m to 26 companies including Sheffield firm ACE Janitorial Supplies, S8 Security Systems of Rotherham and Fireguard of Barnsley.

It also owed £5m to HMRC in income tax, national insurance, VAT, pension, interest and penalties.

An £89,000 pension claim is set to be repaid in full. But HMRC will get just 6.81p for every £1 owed and the unsecured creditors will get nothing, the report states.

Following the re-launch of the company in a ‘pre-pack’ sale, chief executive Rick Bailey announced plans for three new venues in Sheffield, including another cocktail bar, saying the business was in a “fantastic position” following a “strategic group restructure.”

He blamed the collapse on forced closures during the pandemic and being “unable to agree a sensible payment plan with our biggest creditor, HMRC.”

The Leonard Curtis report states IPM Group received Covid-19 support in 2021 but was struggling with repayments by May 2022.

As well as investing £1.3m in Panenka bar, some £450,000 was spent developing the InteliPod touchless turnstile system in the hope sales would help clear the ‘backlog of debt’.

The company was also hit by up to £500,000 of bad debt following the administration of rugby club Wasps in October 2022.

On May 30 this year, it received a letter from HMRC giving seven days’ notice of a winding up order. Bosses then called in administrators.

The firm employed 191 staff and 3,109 casual stewards and security workers on zero-hour contracts. The sale, to a new business called IPM Holdings Group Ltd, saved hundreds of jobs.

In August, Rick Bailey announced it was the official security and leisure partner for the upcoming season at Sheffield United Football Club. 

Mr Bailey told The Star the old company - Intelligent Protection Management Group Ltd - had had cash flow challenges coming out of Covid but was still solvent “in our eyes.”

HMRC debts included interest and penalties, which they disputed, and did not include research and development tax credits which they were owed, he added.

But they “could not get anyone at HMRC to sit down and have a discussion with us,” ultimately leading to the administration process.

Mr Bailey also claimed all suppliers were either “fully paid up or in the process of being paid with a payment plan agreed.”

They had also secured external investment

He added: “We look forward to continuing to build on our successful business. We believe that businesses grow through innovation and investment and we will continue to do this, both for our own growth and also to continue to develop Sheffield, the city where both of the directors are proud to be from.

“In hindsight, there are of course things that we would have done differently, however we have never wavered from our ultimate goals which are to provide the best service to our customers (many of whom have been with us since the very start) and maintain excellent working relationships with our suppliers and protect our staff.

“We look forward to a bright future where we can continue to grow and build on all these relationships.”

* Insolvency firm Leonard Curtis charged £121,980 for handling the deal, with the two administrators charging £550-an-hour.