RSM seals pre-pack deal for historic steel firm

After falling into administration, Thomas Storey Fabrications has been purchased by TAL Engineering, for an undisclosed fee. The pre-pack deal overseen by RSM saved over 100 jobs.

Based in Manchester, Thomas Storey Fabrications is a privately owned engineering company. With 100 years heritage in the steel industry, it offers design, manufacturing and finishing services for various industries, such as construction, rail, military and electric vehicles.

In the last set of published accounts for the business, turnover for the calendar year 2024 fell from £17.5 million to £12 million. The filing noted “a general recession within the construction industry together with key customers making decisions to relocate facilities and to move a large percentage of work offshore.” 

Amid this, Thomas Storey fell into administration. Chris Ratten and Gareth Harris, of RSM’s UK restructuring advisory wing, were appointed joint administrators, and immediately secured the sale of the business and its assets in a pre-pack administration sale, for an undisclosed sum.

Ratten, a restructuring advisory partner with RSM, commented, “Global market volatility and a shift in key customer focus, supply chain challenges, and other pressures beyond Thomas Storey’s control have unfortunately resulted in the company suffering financial strain over recent months. In what was a particularly time-pressured situation, we are delighted to have helped to achieve a sale of the business, allowing it to continue servicing its customers and, most importantly, to preserve employment for all staff. We are grateful to management, staff and wider stakeholders for their patience and support, and for enabling the protection of vital manufacturing capabilities in the North West.”

The acquiring business TAL Engineering of Castleford. Its controlling party is listed as Jaswiner Singh, the financier behind Baaj Capital, which has backed several distressed businesses recently, including In The Style Fashion. The trading business and assets of the company were sold to Thomas Storey Fabrication, part of the TAL Engineering Group – saving all 110 jobs at Thomas Storey in the process.

Dave Brindle of TAL Engineering, added, “The TAL Group, backed by Baaj Capital funding, are delighted to have secured the future of the Thomas Storey Business and its highly skilled and committed team. As part of our acquisition strategy, we are committed to saving and developing excellent UK engineering companies.”