ISG collapse causes £1.5m hike on Chesterfield sports centre build

ISG’s collapse has led to costs on a Chesterfield sports centre increasing by £1.5m, Construction News can reveal.

The firm’s administration last September – the biggest in the construction industry since Carillion went under in 2018 – also caused a six-month delay to the £24.1m project to replace Sharley Park Leisure Centre.

Work was part-completed on the scheme to replace the 1970s build with a new site, including a new 100-station gym, a 25-metre swimming pool and a sports hall, when ISG went under.

Alliance Leisure, North East Derbyshire District Council’s development partner, appointed ISG to deliver the new site – called Clay Cross Active – in February 2023.

The client expected the site to open in late 2024, but that was pushed back after ISG went into administration leaving 2,000 workers redundant and sending shockwaves through the industry.

Alliance Leisure then appointed Nottingham-headquartered Universal Civils & Build to finish the job last October. The centre opened earlier this month, six months later than anticipated.

Costs increased by £1.5m in total, according to a Freedom of Information response sent by the council to CN.

It said further contributions by Sport England and the Clay Cross Town Board “largely covered the increased capital costs”. Sport England is an arm’s-length government body under the umbrella of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

CN asked the council to explain the cost hike, but had not received a response by the time of publication.

ISG was the sixth biggest contractor in the UK when it went under, with a £2.2bn turnover. The collapse hit subcontractors, government clients and projects up and down the country as clients scrambled to replace ISG on jobs and minimise the exposure to the supply chain.

In January, the Ministry of Justice said ISG’s collapse would cost it around £300m on its new prisons programme, and could have an even bigger impact on fire-safety remediation work.

Earlier this month, Tilbury Douglas replaced ISG on a project to rebuild Tang Hall Primary School in York, weeks after Morgan Sindall snapped up a nearby project to rebuild another ISG primary school in the same city.

CN approached Alliance Leisure and North East Derbyshire District Council for comment.