Financial

Less than £600,000 of the £120m owed by collapsed mechanical and electrical (M&E) contractor Michael J Lonsdale, including the £65m owed to trade creditors, is likely to be paid out. In an administration progress update, the company’s administrator, Begbies Traynor, said the assumption was that there would not be enough…

A Hartlepool-based contractor has ceased trading and applied to enter administration. Wearside Contractors Limited director Anthony Fallow filed a notice of intention last Friday (10 May) to appoint an administrator for the company. Fallow confirmed to Construction News this morning that the business had ceased trading. He added that negotiations…

The UK arm of US contracting giant Structure Tone has reported its first pre-tax profit for six years. London-based Structure Tone Ltd, whose back catalogue includes a major overhaul of One Westferry Circus in the city, posted a pre-tax profit of £1.3m for the 2023 calendar year. This followed cumulative…

As retirement looms, the prospect of letting go of a business you built up from nothing can be painful. But the process was made a little easier – certainly financially – around 10 years ago. At that point, former chancellor George Osborne introduced tax breaks on companies opting to sell…

Construction activity rose at its fastest rate in 14 months during April, according to PMI data. Business activity in the sector increased for the second month in a row, with civil engineering activity increasing at its fastest rate for nine months, according to the latest S&P Global UK Construction PMI…

The amount of construction materials being purchased each day across the UK has fallen by almost a tenth in just a year, data has revealed. April’s Builders Merchant Building Index report showed that like-for-like sales plummeted by 9.2 per cent in the year to February 2024. Set up and run…

With three large employee-owned companies entering administration in the past year, CN asks if the model has inherent weaknesses Buckingham Group, Readie Construction and Michael J Lonsdale are among the biggest contractors to have gone under in the past 12 months. Factors identified by directors of these firms include inflation,…

Morgan Sindall is increasing its investment in its housing division to £330m this year, it has announced. A trading announcement by the firm today (2 May) outlined an optimistic outlook, with the firm saying it was confident of delivering a full-year performance in line with expectations. It said its housing…

Stevenage-based main contractor ARJ Construction Ltd has filed a notice of intention to enter administration. The firm was established in 1991 and focuses on projects worth £10m to £60m, particularly in South East England. Its most recent accounts filed with Companies House, covering the 12 months to 30 April 2023,…

Geoffrey Osborne Ltd has called in administrators from RSM Restructuring Advisory. Around 100 staff have been made redundant with immediate effect, the firm said in a statement. “A small number of staff will be retained to assist the administrators and continue discussion with possible investor partners with a view to…