CREDITORS of one of Wiltshire’s best-known breweries have been dealt a bitter blow after it collapsed in October for the second time in three years, with cumulative debts of more than £2m.

Contract workers are now clearing out the former Box Steam Brewery premises at The Midlands in Holt after it went into administration.

The company’s founder and managing director Andy Roberts wound up Steam Ales Ltd, trading as Box Steam Brewery, on October 21 with debts totalling £792,841.58.

David Kirk and Daniel Jeeves, of Kirks in Barnfield Crescent, Exeter, were appointed joint liquidators on October 7. Mr Jeeves declined to comment.

Mr Roberts, 47, is still listed as an active director of the company. He could not be reached directly for a comment, but an approach has been made through Kirks.

His wife Annette, 54, who was also listed as a director, resigned in August.

The brewery, which Mr Roberts founded 15 years ago, was inspired by the engineering triumphs of the great Victorian railway engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

It produced a series of core and craft beers with names such as Piston Broke, Chuffin Ale, Derail Ale, Golden Bolt, Soul Train and Tunnel Vision.

But it’s not the first time that Mr Roberts has put a company trading as ‘Box Steam Brewery’ into liquidation.

Another company of which he was a director, Box Steam Brewery Ltd, collapsed on August 30, 2019 with debts totalling £1,278,771.

The joint liquidators of that company, Gareth Bishop and Sandra McAlister, of McAlister & Co Insolvency Practitioners Ltd of Swansea, were appointed on September 7, 2019.

Mr Bishop said: “The assets of Box Steam Brewery Ltd, including the trading style ‘Box Steam Brewery’, were sold as part of the liquidation.

 “It has recently come to our attention that Steam Ales Limited, who subsequently traded as ‘Box Steam Brewery’ following the liquidation of Box Steam Brewery Limited, has closed and gone into liquidation with another firm of insolvency practitioners.”

In a progress report submitted to Companies House, Mr Bishop and Ms McAlister said so far they have received claims totalling £922,996 up to August 29 this year.

They say there had been “insufficient funds” to make payments to secured and unsecured creditors.

Now they are preparing legal action to recover sums due to Box Steam Brewery Ltd, believed to be in excess of £90,000.

Subject to further legal advice, they are looking to bring a claim against Mr Roberts over a contract entered into with Optimum SME Finance Ltd.

It replaced a prior debt management agreement with Lloyds Commercial Finance, resulting in substantial early termination charges upon the company entering liquidation.

This had the effect of eradicating the firm's book debts - money owed to businesses for goods, services or work - estimated to be in the region of £60,000.

In addition, McAlister & Co are investigating a number of previous transactions in relation to Box Steam Brewery Ltd.