Insolvencies were at the forefront of the minds of Construction News readers in 2024, as this rundown of the most read stories, as viewed by subscribers and others logged in accounts using the website, shows.
9. Supplier of the year went under ‘after dispute with Vinci’
In April, ex-Marshdale Construction director Ben Edgar blamed a dispute with Vinci’s UK building solutions arm for putting his company out of business.
He made the claim in a report published on Companies House by administrators Currie Young.
Edgar said his company began to experience problems after Vinci Facilities brought in a consultancy and attempted to “squeeze the existing supply chain to reduce costs”.
Vinci said it was unable to comment on the allegations.
8. Two more firms facing administration
Two more construction companies were facing administration in August, court filings revealed.
Norwich-based steelwork contractor Fourbay Structures filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator, a day after Hodgkinson Builders Limited, the social housing division of Derby-based contractor Hodgkinson, did the same.
A spokesperson for Hodgkinson said its brickwork division “remains completely separate and unaffected” by the move.
7. Geoffrey Osborne in sale talks, files administration notice
Contracting firm Osborne filed for administration in April, but said it was in talks to sell the business to new owners.
The company said that the decision came due to the firm suffering “headwinds common to the whole [of] construction” leading to losses on legacy projects and difficulty winning new work.
It was not subsequently sold to new owners.
5. ISG chief steps down as ‘fundamental reset’ beckons
Zoe Price and Matt Blowers
ISG chief executive Matt Blowers left the company in February after only two years in the role, with chief financial officer Karen Booth also announcing she would step down in March.
Blowers spent 26 years at ISG, taking the top job after Paul Cossell stood down in January 2022. He was previously chief operating officer of ISG’s global fit-out business, and launched the company’s logistics and distribution division in 2018.
He was replaced by group chief operating officer Zoe Price.
3. ISG ploughed £300k into specialist before collapse
The Tempo Maidenhead project
The third most read story in 2024 revealed in September that ISG had paid £300,000 to subcontractor Alucraft Systems in a last-ditch attempt to save it from administration.
The glazing and facades specialist, which was part of the Clarison Group and had worked on jobs including Everton FC’s new stadium, collapsed in March nonetheless.
An earlier item revealing that Clarison Group owed ISG a total of £14m when it filed a notice of liquidation in July, was the 19th most read news story of the year among subscribers and others logged on to the website.
2. 50-year-old contractor collapses owing £11m
Cosmur Construction went into liquidation in October, hitting creditors for £11m.
The London-based contractor suffered significant cashflow problems at the end of 2022 after a major unnamed client withheld payment, according to its last published accounts.
It entered a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) in May 2023, around the time it celebrated its 50th birthday.
But administrators RSM told Cosmur in July it had breached the terms of the CVA after it failed to make a regular monthly payment.
1. ISG UK subsidiaries apply for administration
Stories relating to the biggest contractor collapse for six years were by far the most read in 2024, with CN’s revelation that six UK subsidiaries of the company including ISG Construction had applied to enter administration being the most popular.
We have grouped the articles together in order to stop the list being dominated by one issue, but four other stories about the fallout from its collapse could have made the top 10 including the announcement of more than £190m losses for the supply chain from seven ISG subsidiaries and a round-up of clients hit by the contractor halting work on its projects.
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Ian Weinfass