Newcastle contractor Metnor Construction has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators.

The Killingworth company, which won the Northumberland and Tyneside Company of the Year award in 2017, is understood to have been in early discussions with business advisors in the North East, after falling into financial difficulties.

Calls to the company’s group head office this morning have confirmed that it has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators to Metnor Construction. The filing comes six months after the Newcastle business published accounts covering 2021, noting a significant bounce back following the challenges of the pandemic.

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Turnover had risen from £48m to £63m, while the previous year’s operating loss of £2.4m had been converted to profit of £942,000.

Recent years have seen Metnor Construction rack up contracts in private residential, care homes, hotels and leisure, data centres and retail sectors. Previous projects include leisure centres in London, Leicestershire and North Norfolk, data halls in Welwyn Garden City and Wembley, a PRS scheme in Rugby and two hotels in the North East. It has also been involved in the construction of Corbridge Primary Care Centre, Cramlington Hospital and Beverley Medical Centre.

It is not known if the company is currently on site with any developments.

Metnor Construction forms part of Metnor Group, which also operates mechanical and electrical specialist Norstead Limited and electrical services and pressure testing Metnor Great Yarmouth, with bases in Maidenhead, Great Yarmouth and Aberdeen alongside the firm’s head office in Killingworth.

During the pandemic the parent group actioned a number of cost saving measures, as the impact of site closures was keenly felt across the whole of the construction industry, with measures including a redundancy programme to reduce the workforce by 10%. Accounts for Metnor Construction highlighted how cost-saving measures initiated in 2020 had been effective, and that the workforce was maintained. The average number of employees in 2021 was 65, down from 80.

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