In today’s news, we will look into the joint venture between Balfour Beatty and Gammon that was awarded a Hong Kong office building development contract worth HK$2.6 billion (£300 million). Meanwhile, McAslan is engaged in a legal dispute that is expected to cost £14 million over faults at the Manchester University building. In addition, another Plymouth construction company has collapsed, leaving over £100,000 in debt. Terry Jewell Plastering and Building Contractors have closed its doors. Moreover, how a company with no employees built a large apartment building in Manchester, only to go bankrupt and leave a debt of £50 million.

Balfour Beatty joint venture wins £300m Hong Kong office project

Original Source: Balfour Beatty joint venture bags £300m Hong Kong office building development

Balfour Beatty’s joint venture Gammon won a HK$2.6bn (£300m) Hong Kong office building development contract.

Balfour Beatty has entrusted Gammon with a Causeway Bay office project.

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group granted Balfour Beatty and Jardine Matheson a £300m deal.

This latest deal followed Gammon’s appointment to destroy the Excelsior Hotel.

Construction will peak at 900 workers.

Late 2022, and 2025 for completion.

Common data and battery storage will boost efficiency.

Gammon will create a 25-story office and retail.

Footbridges will connect the office building to the World Trade Centre and a shopping mall.

Gammon will install the Entertainer, an electric-powered battery storage system created with AMPD Energy, to minimise the project’s carbon emissions and obtain BEAM Plus New Buildings Version 2.0 and LEED platinum certifications.

The Entertainer will power construction equipment on site, replacing diesel generators.

Gammon will employ smart construction practices throughout the project, including building a single data environment to improve collaboration and efficiency.

Hong Kong’s office building development will be sustainable.

Gammon CEO Kevin O’Brien remarked, “We look forward to partnering with Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group to bring another excellent building to Hong Kong Island while exhibiting our collaborative and digital methods to modern construction.”

The project’s sustainable design and features will help it earn the high green accreditation it seeks.

McAslan in £14m legal battle for MU building problems

Original Source: McAslan in £14m legal battle over defects at Manchester University building

John McAslan + Partners is in a legal struggle with the University of Manchester, which believes it owes £13.7 million owing to architectural faults.

A court document issued on Tuesday (1 November) indicated that the university is suing John McAslan + Partners and contractor Laing O’Rourke. It says extensive brickwork cladding on a defendants’ classroom building must be rebuilt.

The building is part of Manchester University’s main campus south of the city centre and houses 25 classrooms, a shop, and numerous lecture theatres. This features Greater Manchester’s largest 1,000-seat lecture hall.

It has three 6-to-8-story blocks. The third block is the Jean McFarlane building. The north and south elevations are brick, while the west is zinc-clad.

The Oxford Road building was developed and finished 14 years ago. Its construction required demolishing Scherrer and Hicks’ 1960s Mathematics Tower.

The University of Manchester says John McAslan + Partners breached its contract by designing and coordinating the building, especially the movement joints in the brickwork veneer.

It also says Laing O’Rouke broke its building contract and didn’t use reasonable skill or care. John McAslan + Partners is accountable for poor construction since it should have recognized and fixed problems onsite.

The paper is a judgement from a ‘cost and case management conference’ held in the Construction and Technology Court before a later main court case.

It’s the first look at a legal dispute that began in 2018.

According to the paper, Manchester University is suing for costly remedial work and additional losses. In February 2020, the university calculated this at £13.7 million, but it’s now ‘much higher’

The letter gives scant insight into how John McAslan + Partners and Laing O’Rourke would defend themselves but states there is significant debate between the parties as to the scope of any necessary remedial works’ and very considerable areas of dispute as to liability’

The document includes party charges. John McAslan + Partners will spend £2 million defending itself after spending $800,000 thus far.

Laing O’Rourke will spend £2.7 million after paying £850,000 to lawyers, and the University of Manchester will spend £3.1 million after spending £1.5 million. Third-party structural engineer Gifford is projected to have $1 million in litigation fees.

The court document contains minor procedural decisions, such as who should have specific documents.

Judge Roger ter Haar authorised the case’s projected costs and stated the university could substitute its expert engineering witness without exposing information about earlier experts.

John McAslan + Partners, Laing O’Rourke, and Manchester University all declined to comment on pending litigation.

Plymouth’s Terry Jewell Plastering and Builders falls bankrupt

Original Source: Plymouth’s flat broke Terry Jewell Plastering and Building Contractors goes bust

Highly-rated Efford company goes bankrupt with £100,000 in debts.

Another Plymouth construction company has gone bankrupt, leaving £100,000 in obligations. Efford-based Terry Jewell Plastering and Building Contractors Ltd hired liquidators in October and filed documentation showing it had no money.

The house-building company was incorporated in March 2021, although its LinkedIn page indicated it had been active since March 2003. Last month, it convened a creditors’ meeting and passed a resolution to voluntarily close.

Companies House documents show it has no assets for creditors and owes more than £100,000 that won’t be paid. Taxes total £28,090.

The company owes Barclays Bank Plc £44,887 and trade and cost creditors £27,744.

Plymouth City Council wants £400; Plymcrete Southwest Ltd. wants £900. In total, £100,724 is owed.

The company never filed its first set of accounts by December 26, 2022, but its confirmation statement with director and shareholder details was due by April 8, 2022.

PlymouthLive hasn’t heard back from Terry Jewell Plastering and Building Contractors.

Rated People calls Terry Jewell Plastering and Building Contractors “a building company built on trust”

It offers cavity wall insulation, chimney building, and garage conversion. It scored the firm 4.5 out of 7 stars and included 41 photos of work.

All 2012-2018 reviews were good. One said, “Can’t praise his guy’s work much; it’s professional, quick, and great.” Terry’s great!”

Good work, commented another. Highly recommend it. Terry’s team is good.â€�

Another reviewer said, “Terry did the job efficiently and kept in touch throughout. After-service was good (when the lock needed a small modification, he came right over).â€�

Terry Jewell Plastering and Building Contractors’ Zoominfo page states, “Proud of our work!” We offer the greatest construction and home improvement services as a one-stop shop. Plymouth is home to our high-quality work.

Terry Jewell Plastering and Building Contractors has gone bankrupt in Plymouth. A&P Property Developers Ltd, registered in London but based in Plympton, declared bankruptcy in August with no assets and £20,000 in obligations. Plymouth City Council’s Strategic Planning and Infrastructure department was owing £19,269.

Karl Thomas Flooring Ltd. of Crownhill declared bankruptcy in August with £64,857 in debts. The independent floor and wall covering company based in Plymouth closed with barely £200 in the bank.

Plymouth’s Urbn Construction Ltd went into liquidation in September due to “insufficient funds” North Hill’s Highgrove Property Services Ltd went bankrupt owing money to its bank, the taxman, and many construction firms. Its £1.3m obligations won’t be paid.

Neal Stoneman Scaffolding Ltd. declared bankrupt owing about £1.5m. Complete Building Developments Ltd. went bankrupt with £200,000 in obligations and insufficient cash to pay staff, its director, or a £44,000 Bounce Back Loan.

Eliot Design and Build, which owed over £4m, closed in Plymouth last year. The enormous Exeter-based but Plymouth-active Midas Group entered into administration with more than £53m in obligations and likely insufficient resources to settle most of them.

Henry W Pollard and Sons Ltd went bankrupt in September, leaving little cash to pay £15m in debts and a big pension fund black hole. Liquidators sorting out the affairs of the 161-year-old Bridgwater and Plymouth company filed a confidential report on the directors’ behaviour to the Government and are investigating “possible pension-related misrepresentations in the company’s financial statements.”

More than 200 Plymouth construction firms are in financial trouble, according to business consultants Begbies Traynor. In Q3 2022, 1,245 Plymouth firms were in financial hardship, up 3% from Q2. 18% of Plymouth’s distressed firms are construction companies, followed by real estate (16%) and support services (11%).

A company with no employees built a huge Manchester apartment project and then went bankrupt owing £50m

Original Source: How a firm with no employees built a massive Manchester apartment building and then went under owing £50m

St Georges Gardens Ltd built an 11-story, 138-flat complex.

Developers of a Manchester apartment project owing about £50m when they went bankrupt.

St George’s Gardens, on Spinners Way, was finished in 2020 with 138 flats.

127 one- and two-bedroom apartments are sold. BDO is selling the remaining units. The company has 11 units worth £2.8m. It also has a £150,000 ground-floor commercial space.

The DeTrafford Group owns St Georges Gardens Ltd. St Georges Gardens’ administration on September 5 won’t affect DeTrafford, the MEN knows.

A new Companies House record reveals how St Georges Gardens Ltd went bankrupt and how much it owes creditors. Gary Jackson, DeTrafford’s CEO, founded the company in April 2015.

The company was formed to build St Georges Gardens. The company is employee-free.

St Georges Gardens Ltd owed Maslow £11m and Daiwa Capital Markets Europe $29.9m, according to documents.

The documents show unsecured creditors owing £4.2m. According to BDO, there won’t be enough money to pay unsecured creditors.

DeTrafford Construction Limited owes £2.4m to St Georges Gardens Ltd, DeTrafford Great Jackson Street Limited owes £93,000, and DeTrafford Wavelength Ltd owes £150,000.

BDO stated the firm’s Coronavirus pandemic delays, cost increases, and supply change concerns led to its administration.

“The wider DeTrafford group had previously encountered delays due to a primary contractor’s failure, requiring Signiant resources and management time to remedy the situation.

“Design faults caused construction delays and higher costs.

“The Coronavirus epidemic made it impossible to exhibit completed flats to potential buyers, reducing demand during nationwide lockdowns.”

The company and its principal creditor, Maslow, hired BDO in September 2020 to assess its cash flow forecast, creditor status, and development costs.

Due to issues selling residential units, the company “may not be able to repay Maslow when its loan facility matures,” according to the study.

The Maslow facility, a £26.3m loan it gave in November 2018, terminated in January 2022 and late-payment penalties commenced.

BDO was hired in June to monitor sales of the remaining flats, which would allow the company to refinance the debt.

St Georges Gardens Ltd was unable to negotiate suitable payment arrangements, had inadequate means to clear the petition debt, and no time to refinance.

BDO said, “Maslow appointed administrators to the company to defend its position.”

After the business behind a £99m DeTrafford project to create 400 apartments in Salford Quays entered administration, investors were warned they would not get their deposits back.

Kroll was recruited in August to manage DeTrafford Wavelength Ltd, the company building the 26-story, 421-apartment complex.

Since planning approval was obtained in December 2019, no work has started on site, and the company went bankrupt due to obligations.

Kroll must meet key planning standards by December 6 to avoid “value-destructive” permission lapse.

Summary of today’s construction news

Overall, we have discussed today that Gammon will be in charge of a Causeway Bay office project that Balfour Beatty has assigned to them. Balfour Beatty and Jardine Matheson were able to secure a £300 million transaction thanks to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group.

Meanwhile, John McAslan + Partners is engaged in a legal battle with the University of Manchester, which believes it is obligated to pay £13.7 million due to architectural flaws in the building.

Furthermore, another construction firm in Plymouth has failed, leaving behind debts of £100,000, and in October, it was made public that Terry Jewell Plastering and Building Contractors Ltd, situated in Efford, had recruited liquidators and had filed a proof of insolvency.

Also, the filings show that St Georges Gardens Ltd owes £11 million to Maslow and $29.9 million to Daiwa Capital Markets Europe. The papers reveal that there is a £4.2 million debt to unsecured creditors and predicted by BDO that there will not be sufficient funds to satisfy unsecured creditors. The St. George’s Gardens inspired the formation of the company, and it is employee-free.