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One administrator attributed the failures to two prime causes: main contractors refusing to pay their subcontractors on time; and suicide bidding.
“The construction industry is reverting to type as it does from time to time. Main contractors are preying on subcontractors,” he said.
And with few jobs available to bid for, many companies of all sizes are taking on projects with little prospect of making a profit – “jobs they’d not even consider taking on in other times”.
The two weeks around Christmas were not a festive period for the employees or owners of more than a dozen failed construction companies.
Administrators from KPMG were appointed on 21 December at Leek-based builder and developer Amos Developments (formerly Colin Amos Builders). Amos had been trading for 15 years, taking on projects up to £1m or more in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Cheshire, including house building and historic building conversions.
The following day saw liquidators called in to wind up Blackburn-based Sunnydale Civil Engineering
On 31 December a liquidator was appointed to wind up Norwich-based AD Utting Construction Ltd, while in London creditors agreed the appointment of a liquidator for John Kotes Construction and Site Services Ltd.
Creditors of prefab steel building specialist Kitpac Building in the West Midlands approved the appointment of a liquidator from Mayfields Sanderlings on 16 December. Kitpac had been manufacturing and installing the Kitpac building for more than 20 years, with clients including Ministry of Defence projects in the Falklands, Bosnia and Kosovo.
Other companies with liquidators appointed in the latter part of December included Lancashire-based construction consultants Team Project Ltd and Leeds-based TRS Services.
Administrators from Leonard Curtis moved in at Oldham-based construction and civil engineering contractor Truelink Management on 17 December.
Other failures include Duart Construction of Buckingham, London-based Bilcom Construction, Sheffield’s Construction Management Consultancy Ltd, and Lancashire-based Maydev Ltd (formerly Holme Park DevelopmentsLtd, Complete Building Logistics & Developments Ltd, Slater Construction (Colne) Ltd).
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