Financial

Subcontractor failures have pushed Blenheim House Construction into its first loss after 26 years of trading. The Surrey-based contractor made a pre-tax loss of £169,000 in the year ending 30 April 2023, down from a profit of £1.1m for the previous period. Company director Michael Curtis said the firm’s profitability…

Balfour Beatty has said it is still chasing “outstanding sums” relating to a £200m residential scheme in Mayfair after its former client entered administration. Last week Interpath Advisory directors Steve Absolom and David Pike were appointed as administrators of 60 Curzon Street Developments, a single-project, special-purpose company behind the 32-flat…

The construction industry saw more companies go bust than any other sector last year, with a record 4,371 building firms collapsing in England and Wales. New data published by the Insolvency Service shows that construction accounted for almost one in five business failures where a firm’s sector was known. Construction…

The continued use of retentions in the construction industry is contributing to company failures, a meeting of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has heard. Newly released minutes from a November meeting show that Isabel Coman, a director at Transport for London and CLC board member, described the issue as one…

Construction has more entries than any other sector in a list of the largest individual taxpayers in the UK, an analysis has found. The Sunday Times Tax List, which examines financial accounts to establish the biggest amounts of tax paid by individuals and families, said 12 building-company shareholders and executives…

Tolent has lost a tribunal case after it failed to consult Unite before making hundreds of redundancies when it entered administration last year. Unite was a recognised trade union for skilled, unskilled and craft employees of Tolent, the £200m-turnover contractor based in Gateshead that collapsed in February 2023 following difficulties…

Red Construction Group has said it is on track to grow its turnover by more than 60 per cent in the current financial year. The main contractor, which has offices in London, Bristol and Bedford, made the announcement as it released its results for the year to 31 March 2023.…

Luxury-house builder Kenham Building has called in administrators, with all staff made redundant. The west London firm appointed ReSolve partners Cameron Gunn and Chris Farrington as administrators after encountering cashflow problems. Kenham operated for 25 years but hit technical challenges related to groundworks on a large residential refurbishment scheme. After…

The government believes it can raise £300m previously lost to fraud through a rule change for subcontractors claiming gross payment status via the construction industry scheme (CIS). Under CIS, subcontractors that have gross payment status can receive payments with no tax deducted at source. But the government says organised criminals…

Build-to-rent developer Watkin Jones has reported a £42.5m pre-tax loss following a surge in operational and exceptional costs. The firm, which placed in the top half of the latest CN100, plunged into the red during the 12 months to 30 September last year. Revenue rose 1.5 per cent to £413.2m…