A council has stepped in to save a number of projects after Woodhead Construction went bust with dozens of jobs lost.
Bolsover District Council said it would push on with the contracts after the Nottinghamshire contractor went into administration.
Woodhead announced last Thursday, September 15, that it was ceasing trading, putting contracts such as the council’s Bolsover Homes scheme at risk.
The family-run business, which was established in 1946, is working with accountancy firm RSM, which is writing to creditors to explain the formalities around voluntary liquidation.
Most recent results for Robert Woodhead Ltd show the company had a turnover of around £40 million and around 135 staff in 2021. The majority of its staff have lost their jobs.
Managing director Teresa Westwood said: “The directors are devastated at having to make this decision.
“Having worked tirelessly to mitigate these issues over recent months, ultimately the business faced a range of cash flow challenges in recent weeks that proved insurmountable and concluded that the company could not continue trading.”
Bolsover council said it had taken the decision to continue to deliver live projects it was involved in and any related projects that were planned.
It said: “We are currently investing £36 million in building new council properties including current sites at Langwith and Shirebrook and are working in partnership with Elmton-with-Creswell Parish Council on the new heritage and wellbeing centre and can confirm all projects will continue as planned.”
Council Leader Coun Steve Fritchley said: “The key thing for me was to keep our building program going to ensure we deliver what we said we would.
“We have therefore employed the current site managers were appropriate and are talking to the sub-contractors to ensure they are fully engaged to make sure the projects continue.
“Once we learned the contractor was to cease trading we took swift and decisive action to ensure our assets were protected and we could continue to deliver what we had set out to do.
“I am a big believer in the council being in control of its own destiny so we are putting into place plans to ensure we have more control of our future residential and commercial projects.”
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