10 Jul 2023 By Jonathan Knott
A Nottinghamshire-based contractor that turned over more than £100m has entered administration.
The “majority” of J Tomlinson’s 400 staff will now be made redundant, according to newly appointed administrators Raj Mittal and Nathan Jones of FRP Advisory, with some being kept on to assist with the administration.
The company was founded in Beeston in the 1950s as a mechanical and engineering contractor, but expanded to become a significant contractor in the Midlands, with two offices in Nottingham as well as offices in Ashfield, Wigan, Derby, Sheffield, Doncaster, Wakefield and the West Midlands.
In a statement published on Monday afternoon (10 July), FRP said the business had “suffered from the prevailing headwinds seen across the construction sector, including severe inflationary pressure on costs”.
Mittal added: “Despite its scale and the success achieved across a number of its divisions, the severe impact of Covid and recent inflationary pressures meant that J Tomlinson was not in a financial position to continue trading and so we have had to make the difficult decision to cease operations.
“We’re now assessing options on next steps and have started our engagement with clients and creditors regarding ongoing projects and liabilities. We are providing support for affected staff in making applications to the redundancy payments service.”
In a statement signed “yours devastated”, the firm’s chief executive Mark Davis said inflation on long-term contracts that were priced before the Covid pandemic had “impaired the group’s cashflow”.
“We as a board have worked tirelessly to attract additional overall finance into the group to invest for the future,” he said. “Sadly, today we have to announce we have been unsuccessful in this regard.”
Davis paid tribute to long-serving colleagues, saying: “We hoped we would end their journey with a bright future for the next generation, sadly we have run out of time… We have employees with 30 years’ time invested and customers lasting 15-20 years, which is incredible and tragic.
“We have done our utmost to communicate timely and provide the support to our teams which is very difficult when decisions of this magnitude are taken and implemented in the tightest of timelines.
“We will do our utmost to provide support and guidance throughout the forthcoming difficult period.”
J Tomlinson was a finalist in Construction News’ contractor of the year award for 2020, in the category for firms with a turnover under £500.
In its most recent accounts, for the year to the end of September 2021, the firm had a turnover of £106m, with a pre-tax loss of £657,000. It employed an average of 460 people.
The accounts say that in addition to the impact of Covid, the company had made “appropriate provisions” for a loss-making new-build contract, and for the reduction on forecast profits for some new-build care home long-term contracts.
According to its website, the company offered services “covering the whole building lifecycle”, including new-build, facilities management, refurbishment and property maintenance. It worked in sectors including social housing, education, health and social care, and residential.
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