BDI Properties Ltd v Murkz Concrete Products Ltd

Alexander successfully represented BDI Properties Ltd on its High Court appeal against the dismissal of a winding-up petition. The appeal was allowed, the dismissal was set aside and the underlying dispute was remitted for determination by a different District Judge.

Case overview

The appeal arose after a winding-up petition was dismissed at its first hearing on the basis of evidence served by the company shortly before the hearing. The petitioner had not been permitted an adjournment to answer that evidence. Alexander was instructed shortly before the appeal and advanced the petitioner's procedural and substantive grounds before HHJ Williams, sitting as a Judge of the High Court.

Principal issues or remedies

• Whether the court below had dealt fairly with evidence served outside the timetable prescribed by the Insolvency Rules.
• Whether the petitioner should have been allowed an adjournment to file evidence in response.
• Whether the conclusion that the petition debt was genuinely and substantially disputed could stand.

Alexander's role, work and outcome

HHJ Williams allowed the appeal, set aside the order dismissing the petition and directed a fresh hearing before a different District Judge. The respondent was ordered to pay the appellant's appeal costs, summarily assessed at £7,500. At the remitted hearing on 6 November 2025, District Judge Mantle found that there was no genuine or substantial dispute to the petition debt, awarded the petitioner a further £8,000 in costs and returned the petition to the winding-up list.

Why the case matters

A successful High Court appeal demonstrating sole-counsel appellate advocacy, rapid preparation, procedural fairness arguments and detailed contentious-insolvency analysis. The result restored the petition and secured a fresh determination which resolved the disputed-debt issue in the petitioner's favour.

Official, reported and published materials

The proceedings are unreported and no public judgment is available.