UK cladding giant Lakesmere in administration

Specialist cladding and roofing contractor Lakesmere has been placed into administration.

Stunned staff at the £120m revenue business were told the firm had collapsed in a series of meetings yesterday.

A swathe of job cuts were also confirmed across the group’s seven offices around the UK.

Administrators targeted sales and estimating staff and are understood to be planning to keep design and site staff while the business assets are put up for sale.

It is understood that McMullen Facades and the international business may not part of the administration.

Now staff at the firm have taken to social media looking for new job opportunities.

One said: “Today, the beloved company I’ve worked for the past 13 years, the Lakesmere group, sadly went into administration.  A great company with just the best people – a very sad day indeed. ”

Another said: “I couldn’t believe it. I thought we were too big for that to happen. Good luck to everyone.”

The firm has four contracts on the Crossrail project. It is understood Crossrail will now step in to directly fund the work. But other jobs are set to grind to a halt as the administration process proceeds.

The first signs that things may not be going well for Lakesmere emerged when finance director Mark Johnson left the firm last month.

Lakesmere Group has been investing heavily in the last few years opening a major facility in 2016 at Portadown in Northern Ireland.

The firm has been operating in the Middle East since 2009 and recently also established a manufacturing facility in China as it worked to deliver projects in Hong Kong.

The firm ranked as the largest installer of Kalzip standing seam roofing in Europe and the Middle East.

Lakesmere grew rapidly in recent years establishing a group structure with seven main businesses covering home and key international markets

According to the most recent results international work accounted for £19m of the near £120m turnover, helping the group to generate a pre-tax profit of £3.5m.

In recent years Lakesmere had built up an impressive portfolio of projects including: the London Aquatics Centre, Ricoh Stadium, Aintree Racecourse grandstand development, the O2 Arena, Diamond Synchrotron and Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 2 building.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2017/11/03/uk-cladding-giant-lakesmere-in-administration/

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