St Wilfrid's School Exeter Owed Its Staff £249,380

The company that ran St Wilfrid’s School on St David’s Hill owed £316,335 when it was wound up. Almost four fifths of that, £249,380, is owed to the people who worked there.

The figures come from the statement of affairs for St. Wilfrid’s School (Exeter) Limited, which reached Companies House on 14 August 2026. It states the company’s position as at 27 July 2026, three days before the winding-up resolution, and is signed by director Alexandra Macdonald-Dent. (Companies House, filing history, company 02282025)

We said in our report on the liquidation that we would publish the statement when it reached the register. This is it.

What the company had

The statement puts the book value of the company’s assets at £170,316 and the amount expected to be realised at £140,961.

The fixed assets, the school’s furniture and equipment, are written down from £21,274 to £1,000. The land and buildings entry is written down to nothing.

There are no secured creditors, and no floating charge.

The staff are the biggest creditors by a distance

Employee claims dominate the list.

• Pay in lieu of notice, 14 employees: £184,070
• Redundancy, 8 employees: £43,344
• Arrears of pay, 13 employees: £11,566

That is £238,980 of unsecured claims. A further £10,400 is listed as ordinary preferential. Under Schedule 6 to the Insolvency Act 1986 the ordinary preferential categories are employees’ unpaid wages up to a prescribed limit, accrued holiday pay and occupational pension contributions. (Insolvency Act 1986, Schedule 6) Taken together, staff account for £249,380 of the £316,335 owed.

Only that £10,400 sits ahead of the ordinary queue. The other £238,980 ranks alongside the gas bill and the TV licence.

Who else is owed money

HMRC is owed £25,382 as a secondary preferential creditor: £23,839 of VAT and £1,543 of PAYE.

The trade and other creditors come to £41,573. Thirteen names appear on the schedule.

The largest entry on that schedule is owed to the company’s own directors. Eric Arthur Macdonald-Dent and Alexandra Macdonald-Dent are the company’s only shareholders, holding 225 and 325 ordinary £1 shares between them, and are listed as trade and other creditors for £27,000 against the reference “Divi”. (Companies House, officers, company 02282025)

St Wilfrid’s Trust, of 39 Sylvan Road in Exeter, appears for £1.

The buildings were given up on day one

A second document reached the register on 17 August. It is a notice of disclaimer under section 178 of the Insolvency Act 1986, signed on 30 July 2026, the same day as the winding-up resolution.

The joint liquidators, Jonathan David Trembath and Samuel Adam Bailey of Richard J Smith & Co in Ivybridge, disclaim all the company’s interest in “St. Wilfrid’s School, 25, 27 and 29 St. David’s Hill, Exeter, EX4 4DA”. A disclaimer ends the company’s rights and liabilities in the property it names. (Insolvency Act 1986, section 178)

The notice was copied to the Registrar of Companies and to five other parties: St Wilfrid’s Trust, British Gas, Exeter City Council, Octopus Energy and Source 4 Business. That explains the £0 against land and buildings in the statement of affairs.

The registered office moved from the school to the liquidators’ Ivybridge office on 14 August.

Where this leaves the money

Working through the order set by the Act, the statement reaches these positions.

• Assets estimated to realise: £140,961
• Less preferential creditors, £35,782: leaves £105,180
• Less unsecured claims of £280,553: a deficiency of £175,373
• After the £550 of issued share capital, a deficiency as regards members of £175,923

The £105,180 is the figure before the cost of the liquidation itself. Liquidators’ fees and expenses are paid out of the estate ahead of unsecured creditors, so whatever is eventually paid out will be less than that.

A statement of affairs is the directors’ own estimate, sworn but not audited. The liquidators’ figures can differ once claims are proved, and creditors are entitled to challenge what is recorded. Anyone with an interest in the disclaimed property may apply to the court under section 181 of the Act for it to be vested in them, and that is worth taking advice on before starting. (Insolvency Act 1986, section 181)

What it means for you

If you worked at the school. Notice pay, redundancy pay, holiday pay and up to eight weeks of unpaid wages can be claimed from the government’s Redundancy Payments Service rather than waiting on the liquidation, subject to statutory caps. You need the case reference from the liquidators to apply. (GOV.UK, your rights if your employer is insolvent)

If you are owed money by the company. Claims go to the joint liquidators at Richard J Smith & Co, 53 Fore Street, Ivybridge, Devon PL21 9AE. On the figures in the statement there is money available to unsecured creditors, but not enough to pay them in full.

If your child was a pupil. The Department for Education register records the school as closed from 8 July 2026. Devon’s state school admissions run through Devon County Council. (Get Information about Schools, URN 113567)

If you want to check the paperwork. Every document quoted here is free to view on the company’s Companies House filing history. The statement of affairs is the LIQ02 filed on 14 August; the disclaimer is the notice filed on 17 August. Both are scanned images rather than searchable text.

We will report the liquidators’ first progress report when it is filed. Our Exeter news section carries the continuing coverage.

Sources

• Companies House: St. Wilfrid’s School (Exeter) Limited, company 02282025
• Filing history, including the statement of affairs and the notice of disclaimer
• Companies House, current officers
• Insolvency Act 1986, Schedule 6, categories of preferential debts
• Insolvency Act 1986, section 178
• GOV.UK, your rights if your employer is insolvent