M&E contractor MJN Colston in administration

Aaron Morby 13 years ago
Share

One of the country’s top eight building services contractors MJN Colston has fallen into administration.

The collapse will send shock waves through the contracting sector as Colston is working on jobs across the country.

More than 420 directly employed staff now fear for their jobs as the administrators try to sell the £100m turnover firm as a going concern.

A source said: “We all got told yesterday and are in a total state of shock. We have been told to wait for an announcement from the administrators and don’t know much more than that.”

One recruitment consultant told the Enquirer: “The first we heard of it was when a commercial manager posted his CV on a job board last night.

“We had been working with Colston, so I called the commercial manager and he told me about the situation.”

Dan Butters and Matt Cowlishaw of Deloitte are the administrators and are looking at whether the firm can be sold as a going concern or its contracts will need to be novated.

Butters said: “Our appointment follows a strategic review of MJN Colston Limited’s financial position.

“We intend to trade the business in the short-term with a view to selling and novating the contracts to other providers.

“We will continue to work with the company’s suppliers and customers and will seek to find a buyer for the business and assets to minimise disruption.”

The firm traces its history back to 1890, and operates from offices in Gateshead, Blackburn, Coventry, Bury St Edmunds, Croydon, Bristol, Bridgend and Exeter.

News of the contractor’s collapse has sent a buzz around the building services recruitment sector as qualified staff seek to put themselves onto the jobs market.

The contractor, which was involved in Arsenal’s Emirate Stadium project, is presently working on Carillion’s £430m hospital project in Bristol.

MJN Colston was also one of the original eight major M&E contractors to push for new BESNA contracts for the industry’s workforce, claiming new employment agreements were needed to modernise working practices if firms were to avoid going under.

But the firm became the first to pull out of the plan following pressure from the unions last September.

Latest news

BAM boots Danny Sullivan off £100m HS2 bat tunnel

Contractor terminates labour supply deal on controversial project
1 hour ago

Mace confirmed for £200m Paddington overstation job

Helical JV also sets start date for 429-room student job over Southwark station
2 hours ago

Kier names new construction boss for clients and markets

Rebecca Boundy promoted to lead sector teams after year of framework wins
2 hours ago

Elements Europe went down owing supply chain £8.7m

Korean owner kept offsite specialist afloat with £71.8m of loans in bid to stem losses
24 hours ago

Bristol awards £288m civils and highways framework

Eurovia, Tarmac, Colas and regional SMEs share 10-lot deal
3 hours ago

Kier seals PCSA deal for £55m Bridgend school

Heronbridge special school move back on track after cost hike and delay
3 hours ago

Mobile crane fire closes M11 motorway

City Lifting machine catches fire in Essex
2 hours ago

Altius and Erith win landmark London tower rebuild

Westminster council advances Huguenot House redevelopment
1 day ago

Corbyn suppliers left £4.4m out-of-pocket

£33m-turnover civils contractor only employed eight staff
2 days ago

McAlpine to restore England’s largest Victorian water tower

Colchester’s iconic ‘Jumbo’ to be reborn as visitor destination
1 day ago

Andrew Scott lands £20m Grand Pavilion revamp in Porthcawl

Restoration of landmark Art Deco building gets underway with 2027 finish target
1 day ago

Keepmoat profit drops 35% as completions slide

Land pipeline expands to 24,400 plots as firm eyes rebound
1 day ago

Bid race begins for £425m water transfer scheme

Contractors invited to help shape Affinity Water project
1 day ago

Legacy building defects return to haunt Barratt Redrow

House builder sets aside £248m for Redrow fire and concrete frame fixes
2 days ago

Skanska agrees £153m price to revamp A47 Thickthorn junction

New link roads and underpasses to ease traffic near Norwich
2 days ago

First tower plans go in for £1bn Liverpool Pier Head site

First design will "set tone" of scheme which could contain 60-storey tower
2 days ago

Barhale creates new low-carbon chief board role

Haddon takes board seat while Solomon becomes eastern regional director
2 days ago

Met Police preps £300m framework for estate upgrade

Early market talks start ahead of October bid contest
2 days ago

Raft of SME firms win £94m framework places

More than 50 demolition and asbestos specialists chosen: Full list
2 days ago

GRAHAM gets go-ahead for £110m Boddingtons Brewery revamp

Work to start this summer after Gateway 2 approval secured
3 days ago

Thames Water finance chief joins BAM UK & Ireland

Abigail Farrell-Black joins contractor as new finance head after senior roles at Thames and Southern Water
3 days ago

FM Conway profit jumps to £33m under Vinci

Turnover hits £608m and cash surges £68m just two months into new ownership
3 days ago

McAlpine breaks ground at £1.25bn Port Talbot green steel job

Port Talbot switch to scrap-powered production by 2027
3 days ago

Cappagh lands £136m Portsmouth Water deals

Utility specialist wins AMP8 contracts for infrastructure and smart meters
3 days ago

Rethink over “anti-dumping” tariffs on Chinese diggers

Fair trade body reconsiders ruling after lobbying by manufacturers
3 days ago

Sparks agree near 4% wage increase from 2026

Top hourly rate in London to rise to £26.70 under JIB deal
3 days ago

Morgan Sindall to build new Cambridgeshire school

Latest win for contractor at Alconbury Weald development
3 days ago

BSR backlog swells as new build approvals run to 36 weeks

First official Government figures expose full extent of Gateway project logjam
6 days ago

Repair slowdown drags down construction output

New work activity rises in May despite overall 0.6% output fall
6 days ago

Equans suffers £29m loss as new build exit drags on

Refocused retrofit contractor still dogged by legacy losses despite profitable core work
6 days ago