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Friday
19  April

Administrators appointed for building firm insolvency

 
03/07/2019 @ 11:09

Administrators have been appointed to oversee the insolvency of Jistcourt, the construction company that had been due to construct a £3.5 million social housing development in Newtown.

The Port Talbot based company had been contracted to build Powys County Council's flagship project of 26 flats at the Old Bowling Green site on Back Lane.

A spokeswoman confirmed that Huw Powell and Katrina Orum of Begbies Traynor had been appointed as administrators on Thursday, 27 June.

Huw Powell, a partner, said: “Jistcourt has been trading successfully for almost 40 years, but a number of challenging, loss-making projects have recently adversely affected its cash flow.

Despite a strong order book, this has left the business with a legacy of debt and no way of rectifying the situation.

“Reluctantly, the directors have taken the difficult step of making 47 of their 66 employees redundant.

“Together with the remaining staff, Jistcourt’s directors will be working with clients on remaining live projects to bring them to a workable conclusion.”

Powys County Council had refused to comment on the issues surrounding the firm until they received official confirmation that Jistcourt had gone bust.

Documents discussed at the recent economy, residents, communities and governance scrutiny committee on Monday, June 24, showed that £695,000 had been spent on the high profile development.

And PCC knew a month earlier on May 22 that a bank had could not provide a “Performance Bond” for Jistcourt as the company had exceeded its limit.

A performance bond guarantees to a project owner that the project will be completed (performed), even if the contractor fails.

The construction company’s demise following hot on the heels on Dawnus’ failure has prompted questions whether PCC do proper due diligence into companies before awarding contracts.

Cllr James Evans, Powys County Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “The Cabinet and County Council takes all reasonable steps to ensure that the taxpayers money is protected and will continue to do so.

“Any development project will have some sort of expenditure costs before any works on site commence.

“The £695,000  relates to the costs incurred before the contact to build the development in Newtown was awarded.”

The significance of the scheme is that it is the first affordable housing development for social rent commissioned by PCC in more than 40 years, as PCC looks to build 250 homes by 2023.

By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Service Reporter