Builder who has a previous company that has been struck off

Hello Many builders go bust through no fault of their own, yet others manufacture going bust so they don't pay their bills and don't finish the work they have started. A big percentage of these are when people pay large sums of money up front, so it's good bye with your hard earned money, There is no reason for this person to not do your work but to not pay anything up front, even if he says he needs money to buy materials, if can't afford to buy the materials tell him you will purchase them. Before he starts the work tell him to break the work down into stage payment, i.e. foundation, first floor, roof, first fix etc (good practice for all you customers) If you have had many quotes and he is a lot lower than the rest, it's another sign he is in financial trouble and what we call buying work Hope this helps

It does sound a bit funny but as Rowan says, it may have been through no fault of their own. You have done everything right so far, just make sure you don't pay anything up front and as above, buy materials yourself if they can't afford to. Get contracts and stage payments set up and get references from them. See previous work as well and speak to the previous customer to get a better idea of how the company works. It seems to me that your gut feeling is not to trust them, and I would go with your instinct. This will be a big project and will bring big costs so make sure you are certain before hiring anyone!!!