Home builders to the stars in a £1.3m hole

Published 01st Nov 2009

A couple who built up a £15million business designing luxury homes for celebrities and footballers including glamour model Katie Price and England star Wayne Rooney have become the latest victims of the credit crunch.

Dawn and Ashley Ward claimed in February to be recession-proof, saying they had enough funds and wealthy clients for the economic crisis not to be a worry.

But last week the Armani-wearing mother of four and her husband, himself a former Premier League footballer, were forced to enter their firm, Bilton Ward Developments, into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) with debts of £1.3m.
Among 65 creditors are ex-footballers Steve Watson and Steve Stone, each of whom are owed £175,000.

Under the legally-binding CVA, which describes how they will repay their debts, the couple have been allowed to continue trading and they insist the majority of their creditors are keen to continue working with them.

Mr Ward, 38, who played in the top flight for Blackburn and Norwich but retired four years ago, said both he and his wife were investing millions of pounds of their own money to try to save their company.

He said: ‘Every client who has signed a contract with us knew about the CVA. We are confident we can move forward. I would not have put my own money into it if I wasn’t confident.’

Mrs Ward, 34, added: ‘Bilton Ward is not going to go under. There was a company which owed us a million pounds. We took them to court and the day before court they went into liquidation.’

The couple started their property empire from a £270,000 barn conversion 11 years ago and now live in a £2.8m Cheshire mansion.

This week they said all current contracts – including plans for Katie Price’s new £3m luxury home in Horsham, West Sussex – would be honoured.

The Wards have used former striker Ashley’s football connections to grow their business.

In 2004, they oversaw the building of Wayne and Coleen Rooney’s home – a Footballers’ Wives-style house with a huge swimming pool, private cinema and Greek sculptures in the corridors – in the Cheshire village of Prestbury.

Nearby, another of their palatial new-builds, the £4.25m Hump And Hollow, named after its rustic location, has been bought by Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland.

Other clients include Manchester United defender Wes Brown and Heartbeat actress Tricia Penrose.

Bilton Ward’s problems were triggered when house-building contracts worth £12m fell through.

A statement from the firm last night said: ‘BWD has been adversely affected by the collapse of the property and credit markets. The directors remain determined to keep BWD operating.

‘The CVA does not relate to Ashley and Dawn’s other companies BWD Interiors, BWD Investments LLP, BWD (Stud) LLP or Spanish SL, each of which continues to trade profitably.’

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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