Keltbray has acquired a parcel of contracts, including work for National Highways, and taken on 117 employees.
The administrators said that “ it was not possible to transfer all of the infrastructure contracts and therefore regrettably we have today announced 19 redundancies”.
This is the third disposal made by the administrators appointed to handle the affairs of NMCN last week.
Galliford Try paid £1m for the water business and Svella, the investment vehicle group set to rescue NMCN before it collapsed, acquired the telecoms, plant hire, transport and accommodation businesses.
Including the Keltbray purchase of the infrastructure business, the administrators from Grant Thornton have now saved more than 1600 jobs out of the approximately 1800 employed by NMCN. The redundancy tally stands at 99. Approximately 50 people have been retained to assist with the administration process.
Grant Thornton director Rob Parker said: “We are very pleased to have secured this third sale which means that within less than a week of our appointment we have secured over 1600 jobs and helped to maintain continuity and minimise the impact for the greater majority of NMCN’s customers, many of which were involved in important infrastructure projects across the UK. It was important to ensure that transactions were completed as quickly as possible.
“Sadly it was not possible to transfer all of the Infrastructure contracts and therefore regrettably we have today announced 19 redundancies.
“Our focus as administrators now turns to assisting the purchasers of the various parts of NMCN with post completion matters and dealing with the other assets of the company. We will be providing further updates in due course.
Keltbray said that the acquisition extended its service offering in infrastructure.The acquired contracts will be managed within Keltbray’s existing infrastructure division, reporting to managing director Phill Price.
Keltbray chief executive Darren James said: “Keltbray are pleased with the ‘on strategy’ opportunities presented by the acquisition of these contracts, working with clients on some of the UK’s most important infrastructure projects. Today’s announcement accelerates our plans to build a resilient, growth-oriented business. Equally important, we have also safeguarded 117 valuable jobs and livelihoods that could otherwise have been lost to our industry.
“The acquisition has required a very rapid, but collaborative approach, and Keltbray would like to thank all parties for their proactivity throughout.”
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