Administrators to air-conditioning specialist Gallant Building Services have unearthed a mountain of debts following the collapse of the Mansfield-based contractor.

Now it has emerged that 78 investors in the business have lost £26m, after being encouraged to back the £29m turnover contractor on the strength of directors claiming a long-term exclusive air-conditioning deal with hotel giant Travelodge.

The hotel contractor’s trail of debts so far total an estimated £56m, including £5.1m owed to trade subcontractors and suppliers, £1.3m owed to HMRC and 28 staff owed £43,500 in wages and redundancy payments.

According to a report from administrator Forvis Mazars, company bank statements reveal the firm’s turnover with Travelodge appeared to be significantly lower than portrayed to investors when they were considering placing their savings with Gallant.

The alarm was raised about the Nottinghamshire contractor when one key investor owed over a £1m was told last August by a director that the company’s bank account had been frozen and interest payments could not be made.

This triggered a winding up petition, which eventually saw the firm, run by directors Chris Lightbody and Scott Bithel, placed into administration last September.

Lightbody has been unable to help administrators work through the company finances saying he was unwell.

Bithel was in contact with the administrators but has yet to supply updated management accounts, despite being afforded extra time to make a return.

Administrators are struggling to draw up details of realisable assets because paper records were destroyed when the company moved office last August.

While the company claimed a sales ledger of £47m, most attributable to Travelodge, administrators cannot retrieve sales documents to substantiate this because the supplier of software needed to draw down the information suspended its service last April due to non-payment of invoices.

The administrator warned in a creditors’ statement of affairs: “There is insufficient detail to assess the accuracy of these entries nor determine if there is any realisable value. The joint administrators will continue to investigate this matter.

“Based on the current information we have, we don’t believe that there will be sufficient funds recovered to allow for a distribution to creditors.”

Director Chris Lightbody contiunes to run another Mansfield company, F4Controls, with his brother Jonathon Lightbody, established 20 years ago.

According to latest accounts the firm employs around 185 staff with net shareholder funds of £480,000. Reported with these accounts as a post balance sheet event F4Control reveals that Gallant Building Services owes it £1.6m, which it warns will not be recoverable.