Construction work on a retail site on the outskirts of Penzance was stopped very suddenly when the main contractor for the project ceased trading with immediate effect. Recently the former contractor, Wieser Construction released news that they were in liquidation. On the 31st of July the contractor was apparently advised by DC Business recovery to cease trading with immediate effect.

The contractor had a winding-up petition issued against them and HSBC the business account provider of Wieser froze the contractor’s bank account after an audit flagged up a number of discrepancies. The company was advised that it would be best to apply for Voluntary Administration. All staff have been made redundant as a part of this Voluntary Administration process.

The Developer Consolidated Property Group announced that they would be beginning the development on the Cornish site in October. The plan is to create a 15,800 sq. ft. retail site which would include a number of popular chain names such as Pets At Home and Poundland. Also on the site there will the first Costa drive-thru to open in Cornwall. This development, could bring 18 new jobs to the area.

According to the developers, a contractor has already been found to continue the development in the place of Wieser Construction. Due to the speed in appointing a new contractor, the development is still expected to be complete before the end of 2017. It is thought that this hiccup has in fact had very little impact on the schedule of this construction work, with the shops expected to be open in the Autumn. Initially the schedule of works had the development complete at the end of the summer or towards the end of the year, therefore the developer’s estimation shows that the need to replace the contractor has had little to no impact on the projected time period of this build.