Collapsed Dundee specialist engineering firm the Galloway Group and its associated firms owe external creditors £17.6 million, according to administrators Ernst & Young.

Andrew Davison and Robert Kelly of EY’s restructuring team are trying to rescue the firms as going concerns or sell the property and assets to clear the debts.

Galloway Group, Duct Mate and Galloway Holdings, the non-trading parent of the Galloway subsidiaries went into administration in August with the loss of more than 160 jobs at the Wester Gourdie base in Dundee.

The new EY reports filed at Companies House disclose overall deficiency run up by the group’s companies is of the order of £30m, which includes secured and several hundred unsecured creditors and covers financial arrangements between companies in the Galloway network.

EY said the total debt to external creditors – companies and suppliers outwith the Galloway parent company and its subsidiaries – is £17.6m.

Galloway’s bank HSBC is shown to be owed £2.9m and Scottish Enterprise £800,000.

Both HSBC and Scottish Enterprise hold floating charges against property to recover the funds they lent.

The employees’ pension scheme is owed £9.4m and unsecured creditors, including local traders and suppliers, are owed £4.2m.

Moreover, unpaid wages to employees total around £300,000.

Galloway companies were involved in the fabrication, design and installation of ductwork for clients throughout the construction, marine, oil and gas, nuclear and process industries in the UK and internationally.