The £38m-turnover firm has proposed a company voluntary arrangement that will see it pay creditors a percentage of every pound owed. If the deal is not accepted by 75 per cent of creditors, the firm will be placed into administration, it said. William Anelay currently employs 190 staff and has
Berkeley Group saw its share price increase after it was revealed that the chairman of the firm, Tony Pidgley, has purchased a further 5% of the company’s shares for just less than £800,000. The group presented an official statement that revealed Pidgley had bought a 4.7% stake of 35,061 shares
The High Speed 2 project could be delayed by up to one year due to cost pressures, warns the latest report from the National Audit Office. According to the NAO, the proposed completion date of December 2026 was “too ambitious” as the HS2 Ltd company said that it was only
The UK’s leading independent construction and property services company, Willmott Dixon, has abandoned its Support Services sale after failing to find a suitable buyer. Earlier in the year, the company invited interest in its Support Services division as it expected that a different firm would be better positioned to aid
A UK fish processing company has been fined £500,000 after a 22 year old employee was killed by falling boxes. Interfish Limited, a Plymouth based firm, was found guilty of negligence after Tomas Suchy was clearing up a fallen stack of frozen fish boxes in one of the company’s cold
Last month the UK saw its highest rate of gross home lending since 2008 as it reached £18.2 billion. That was a 4% rise on April’s figure of £17.6 billion and 14% more than May 2015, according to the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, a group which
Solar City, the solar power firm that received a takeover bid from Tesla Motors, has started dealing with a series of potential conflicts of interest by announcing that the proposal is to be considered by a special committee of directors. Although the committee is made up of just two of
Saint-Gobain has revealed its new strategic approach, as well as its updated logo. Adapting to social changes, where all people along the value chain can now influence buying decisions, including product users, owners and end-consumers, Saint-Gobain is repositioning its brand to support its promise to create great living places for
The £38m-turnover firm has proposed a company voluntary arrangement that will see it pay creditors a percentage of every pound owed. If the deal is not accepted by 75 per cent of creditors, the firm will be placed into administration, it said. William Anelay currently employs 190 staff and has been in operation since 1747. According to credit agent Top Service, the York-based company owes 22 firms a total of £200,000, with five of the creditors issuing debt recovery orders with the agency. The company, which specialises in historic construction and heritage restoration, said it entered financial difficulties after a period of expansion, which saw it take on projects outside its traditional scope of work. During this time, the company took on a number of problem contracts and was unable to pay suppliers, it said. According to Top Service, the majority of outstanding payments have been longer than 120 days. The firm’s associated businesses – Lowery Roofing, Hare and Ransome Joinery, Anelay Traditional Masonry, and Anelay Building and Conservation – are unaffected by the CVA and will continue to trade as normal. William Anelay chief executive Charles Anelay said all but one of the problem projects had completed and the company had a strong order book for the next 12 months. The firm has a secured workload of £33m, with £9m-worth of projects under consideration for the end of this financial year. Mr Anelay said: “While only a few projects outside our usual sphere have been involved, the values were significant and this has harmed our business performance and cashflow. ”They are now finished, save one, where completion is imminent, and another, which has been brought under control, but unfortunately we are now unable to pay suppliers. “We have a fresh approach, have returned to our core operations and have a strong order book for the next 12 months and beyond.” He added: “We appreciate that the need for a CVA will be a great disappointment to subcontractors and suppliers who have supported us for many years, but this is the best way to make a maximum and prompt return to creditors and we are totally committed to making it a success. “Of course, it can work only if our customers are prepared to support the proposal as well. “With our bank’s support and a successful completion of the proposed debt restructuring, we aim to continue in our current form and are committed to completing schemes under contract.” Source link
Berkeley Group saw its share price increase after it was revealed that the chairman of the firm, Tony Pidgley, has purchased a further 5% of the company’s shares for just less than £800,000. The group presented an official statement that revealed Pidgley had bought a 4.7% stake of 35,061 shares at £22.69 as its share prices dived. Glyn Barker, a Director of the company, revealed that he bought 3,000 shares at £22.40 (worth around 67,200) for his wife. After the news, the following morning saw the group’s shares rise by 4.5% before they plunged by more than 9% the following day. Shares were then temporarily suspended in the FTSE 100 listed housebuilding firm as they triggered the circuit breaker of the London Stock Exchange by falling by more than 8% on their starting price. Following Britain’s decision to leave the EU, share prices in housebuilding have taken a hit immediately, as witnessed on the morning of the referendum when Berkeley Group shares plummeted by 26.9%, with Taylor Wimpey shares losing a third of their value, while shares in Persimmon went down by 27.5% and share prices in Barratt went down by 20%. Earlier in the month, Pidgley came out strongly in favour of a vote to remain in the EU, stating that the EU referendum outcome would be significant for the property and housebuilding sector in the UK. Jeffries International equity analyst Anthony Codling said that Berkeley has a particularly high exposure to London and that the London housing market fundamentals are set to remain in a healthy position. Meanwhile, Berkeley Group did not provide a comment on the issue. Earlier in the month Credit Suisse said that Berkeley Group Holdings is still very well managed but was not immune to the weakening conditions of the new build housing market of inner city London.
The High Speed 2 project could be delayed by up to one year due to cost pressures, warns the latest report from the National Audit Office. According to the NAO, the proposed completion date of December 2026 was “too ambitious” as the HS2 Ltd company said that it was only 60% sure that the scheme could be delivered on time. The report highlighted that HS2 Ltd was asked by the Department for Transport to assess the potential implications of a 12 month extension of phase one, which links the West Midlands to London. Robert Goodwill, Transport Minister, insists that the programme’s first phase was “on track” to deliver the scheme in the next ten years, says the Financial Times. There are also cost pressures on the £56 billion project, with first phase estimate costs of £27.4 billion currently exceeding the funding that is available for the scheme by £204 million, while the second phase exceeded available funding by £7 billion. Rebecca Sheeran, NAO Director said that the Department of Transport has proposed an “unrealistic timetable” for the delivery of HS2 as it was not as ready as they hoped it would be despite significant progress being made over the last three years. Ms Sheeran added that make it even more challenging to deliver a project which is already viewed as a complex operation. Meanwhile, Labour MP Meg Hillier, who chairs the public accounts committee, has labelled the findings “concerning.” Ms Hillier commented that if HS2 was to deliver everything that the government has promised then there are major decisions that must be made. Also outlined in the report was a review by the Cabinet Office which is looking to bring costs for phase two down by £9 billion. The report was produced prior to the Brexit vote last week which has put a number of UK infrastructure projects into doubt.
The UK’s leading independent construction and property services company, Willmott Dixon, has abandoned its Support Services sale after failing to find a suitable buyer. Earlier in the year, the company invited interest in its Support Services division as it expected that a different firm would be better positioned to aid the growth and prosperity of the subsidiary. However, it has now emerged that despite weeks of communication, they have been unable to reach a satisfactory deal. Rick Willmott, Chief Executive, said that despite receiving considerable interest, further tests of the proposals revealed a short fall in their perception of value or the takeover would have resulted in the business and its culture being dismantled along with asset redistribution, which would have been unfair on employees and customers. He added that the company has therefore made the choice to step away from the negotiation process and to reinstate the long term plans of the business by recommitting its full energy and support to capture huge potential within the current team and the support services sector. Mr Willmott also commented that the process has been an arduous and difficult one and has at times proved to be an unhelpful distraction for his team, adding that he is pleased with the professionalism, selflessness, resilience and ability throughout the process. He said he was extremely grateful and proud of the way they have worked throughout the takeover talks. Last year, Willmott Dixon Support Services Ltd generated a turnover of £151 million and made a £2.2 million profit before tax. Its main operations are Willmott Dixon Energy Services and Willmott Dixon Partnerships. The company has also secured a deal to build a new £31 million computer science facility at Swansea University. Built at its new Bay Campus site, the Swansea University Computational Foundry will commence construction work in September 2018, designed by AHR Architects.
A UK fish processing company has been fined £500,000 after a 22 year old employee was killed by falling boxes. Interfish Limited, a Plymouth based firm, was found guilty of negligence after Tomas Suchy was clearing up a fallen stack of frozen fish boxes in one of the company’s cold store areas when a further fall of stock hit him. The injuries he sustained were severe and multiple, and ultimately proved fatal. The Health and Safety Executive carried out an investigation into the incident, which occurred on October 18, 2013, and found that there were no safe working systems or instructions for staff on how the pallets should be correctly stored. When the incident occurred it was discovered that there was no procedure in place from the company for falling stock. Based in Plymouth’s Wallsend Industrial Estate in the Cattedown Wharves, Interfish Limited submitted a guilty plea to a breach of Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The firm stood trial at Plymouth Crown Court earlier in the week and was fined £500,000 and ordered to pay £24,800 in costs. Emma O’Hara, HSE inspector, commented following the hearing that the safe stacking of stock is a necessity throughout all industries, though it is often overlooked when companies are implementing safe work systems. She added that duty holders must ensure that stock is stacked safely and that plans are in place to deal with any unforeseen circumstances like stock suddenly falling as we have seen in this tragic case. In 2014/15, 142 workers were fatally injured in the UK, which equates to 0.46 worker deaths per 100,000 workers. This figure is a reduction of 9% on the previous five year average (156), while the last 20 year period has seen a steady decline in fatal injury rates, although this trend is becoming less clear.
Last month the UK saw its highest rate of gross home lending since 2008 as it reached £18.2 billion. That was a 4% rise on April’s figure of £17.6 billion and 14% more than May 2015, according to the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, a group which represents a significant majority of UK home lenders. The figure is at its highest for the month of May in eight years, when gross lending reached a figure of £23.7 billion. A senior economist at CML, Mohammad Jamei, commented that lending continued to be rather dampened in May as anticipated, which reflects the first quarter rush to beat the changes to stamp duty on second properties. Mr Jamei believes that in the future there is likely to be a great deal of uncertainty in the sector following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. He is expecting this to reduce activity below expected levels and affect sentiment, as both sellers and buyers take a ‘wait and see’ approach until the dust has settled. The economic expert added that the market fundamentals which underpin house prices still seem sound, and they are not anticipating any significant falls in house prices, especially given the current imbalance of supply and demand. Chief executive officer of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB), Adam Tyler, believes that the ‘wait and see’ attitude, along with greater caution, is likely to be seen in both seller and buyers because of the Brexit vote. Mr Tyler commented that the view of the NACFB is the same as that of the CML in terms of market fundamentals remaining in a sound state, with a material price decline being prevented by the sharp supply and demand imbalance. He also said that volatility in economic and political terms could work in favour of the buy to let market as investors still view bricks and mortar as safe investments.
Solar City, the solar power firm that received a takeover bid from Tesla Motors, has started dealing with a series of potential conflicts of interest by announcing that the proposal is to be considered by a special committee of directors. Although the committee is made up of just two of Solar City’s eight board directors, it does feature one who was previously on the board at Tesla. This overlap is indicative of the difficulties faced by the solar company in persuading shareholders that it will take an objective and unbiased approach to the takeover approach. The committee will also be required to lay the foundations for what experts believe will result in an inevitable legal challenge is the deal were to be finalised. Elon Musk, chief executive officer at Telsa and chairman of Solar City, owns over 20% in both organisations, which has prompted further questions about possible conflicts of interest when the takeover bid was revealed last week. Antonias Gracias, an investor who holds a place on both company boards, said, along with Mr Musk, that they will not vote their shares in either firm in future shareholder votes on the proposed deal. However, the company ties go much further than this, with just one of Solar City’s eight person board having no current or former connection to Tesla. Earlier in the week, the solar firm constructed a special committee which has “exclusive authority” to consider the organisation’s value creation opportunities and its long term business plan. One of the committee members, Nancy Pfund, is a venture capital investor who was formerly a Tesla board member before its public offering back in 2010, while committee chair, Donald Kendall, has no former ties. Lazard and Skadden Arps advised the committee. There are now just three directors who can still vote on any future offer – John Fisher, Ms Pfund and Mr Kendall.
Saint-Gobain has revealed its new strategic approach, as well as its updated logo. Adapting to social changes, where all people along the value chain can now influence buying decisions, including product users, owners and end-consumers, Saint-Gobain is repositioning its brand to support its promise to create great living places for people and improve daily lives. Saint-Gobain’s logo has also been redesigned to reflect its consumer-focused strategy. An interpretation of the ‘bridge’ symbol, which has represented Saint-Gobain for more than 40 years, the new logo will incorporate new colours and buildings to create a vibrant skyline, that reflects the dynamism that drives Saint-Gobain. Pierre-André de Chalendar, chairman and chief executive officer of Saint-Gobain, said: “Thanks to digital, consumers want to get to know the brands they live with. Saint-Gobain has been behind the scenes for many years, helping to create sustainable buildings that enhance people’s daily lives, but now it’s time to connect with our customers on a more personal level. “Our materials and solutions are designed to help increase the comfort of people today, wherever they live, work and travel. But we need to do this sustainably, helping to safeguard the planet for future generations. We will use our brand values – our expertise in materials, a culture of innovation, and an understanding of customer needs – to achieve this.” Mike Chaldecott, general delegate and regional managing director for Saint-Gobain Construction Products in the UK and Ireland, said: “Throughout our 350 year history, we have continued to innovate, creating solutions that improve people’s daily lives. To continue delivering such innovative solutions, we must listen to the end-user and provide buildings that meet the demands of modern life, as well as benefit occupant health and wellbeing.”
