Gateshead, UK-based construction firm Tolent has entered administration, with 313 jobs being made redundant.
It is a leading construction firm in the North East with a revenue of £200m and about 400 employees.
The firm appointed James Lumb and Howard Smith from Interpath Advisory as joint administrators to close the business, including its five subsidiaries, after a year of financial woes, as well as huge losses it faced on its £85.5m Milburngate hotel project in Durham, reported BBC.
Interpath Advisory managing director and joint administrator for Tolent James Lumb said that for several businesses across the UK’s building and construction sector, the group has been “battling severe headwinds, including spiralling costs, labour shortages and also the loss of other companies within its supply chain, all of which unfortunately resulted in one of its major contracts becoming loss-making.
“Following the tapering-off of the government’s Covid-19 support schemes, and in the wake of recent economic volatility, access to finance has tightened for many companies across the sector. This means many building and construction firms are finding they have fewer options available to them to help deal with any liquidity crisis.
“Additionally, after the annual Christmas shutdowns and a cold December, the months of January and February often bring with them a painful cash crunch. In a sector which typically operates on wafer-thin margins, this can often prove to be insurmountable and, unfortunately, so has been the case for Tolent.”
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By GlobalDataEstablished in 1983, Tolent has offices in Leeds, Stock-on-Tees and Shotton Colliery.
In addition to working in several construction sectors, it has offered civil engineering and property development work.
According to its latest financial accounts covering the 2021 financial year, Tolent reported a £4m loss despite increasing its revenue to nearly £200m, reported The Northern Echo.
In 2020, the group posted an £8m loss from a £184m revenue.
Tolent replaced its chief executive in September 2021 after weak financial results. Earlier the same year, it underwent a £12m refinancing with lenders.
This appointment of an administrator for Tolent comes within a few days of the collapse of Metnor, a North East construction firm with 65 employees that worked across leisure, healthcare and student accommodation segments.