Worthington construction arm enters administration

Marcus Worthington & Company, the construction division of Marcus Worthington Group, has been placed into administration.

One of the group’s funders, Cumberland Building Society, has appointed PwC as administrator at the company, which continues to trade. Around 130 jobs are affected by the administration.

The group stressed that work will continue on two big ticket projects, the 125 Deansgate office in Manchester and the North Western Halls hotel redevelopment in Liverpool, which are being financed by an investment fund. The whole of the 116,000 sq ft 125 Deansgate has been let to Regus co-working brand Spaces, which in turn is set to manage the offices on behalf of BT, and is expected to be open in early 2020.

Hollinwood Homes, the residential division of Marcus Worthington Group, is unaffected. Two other group companies, Marcus Worthington Properties and Stonewell Property Company are also unaffected.

A statement on behalf of the directors of Marcus Worthington Group said: “It is with deep regret and sadness that an administrator has been appointed to Marcus Worthington & Company Ltd, the construction part of our business.

“The current economic uncertainty has led to us struggling to secure additional borrowing from our bank lenders. We have also been unable to attract fresh funding from other lenders because of these testing market conditions.

“Our primary thought at this time is with our staff. All our employees have been paid up-to-date as of 30 September and we will be supporting those affected in any way we can. We are consulting with our subcontractors and will update them in due course.”

Worthington’s struggles come only weeks after Cheshire construction group Pochin’s went into administration, citing issues with problem contracts. Late last week, Lincolnshire Live reported sub-contractors walking off a Worthington student accommodation scheme that had originally been scheduled for occupation this month.

In September, the IHS Markit/Cips UK Construction PMI survey reported that the UK building industry had suffered its biggest fall in new work in more than a decade, with Brexit uncertainty cited as a key factor.