Manchester civil engineering firm to close with loss of 90 jobs

Manchester civil engineering firm Moulding Contracts Ltd has gone into administration and 90 jobs are set to be lost at the £18m-turnover company.

Mark Getliffe and Diane Hill of CLB Coopers in Manchester have been appointed joint administrators of the company after attempts to secure a buyer to save the firm proved unsuccessful.

Moulding Contracts Ltd was formed in 1950 as a family-run plant hire firm in the north west and expanded to become a major service provider for the quarrying and brick making industries throughout the Midlands and the north of England.

The firm had a turnover of £18m and operated from bases in Astley, County Durham and Oxfordshire.

Commenting on the firm’s administration, Mark Getliffe of CLB Coopers said: “Moulding Contracts will complete some specific contracts but there is no prospect of it continuing to trade as a going concern. The workforce was already in a redundancy consultation.” Getliffe also said that there was “every prospect” that creditors would receive a distribution.

“The expectation is that we will be able to distribute funds back to creditors in 2017," he said. “A plan has been agreed to effect this and creditors will be consulted early in the New Year.”

Affected employees at Moulding Contracts Ltd include ground-workers, site agents, site engineers, and plant operators. “It’s unwelcome to see people lose their jobs at any time of year but there is a chronic shortage of these skills across civil engineering and construction, so it’s our hope and belief that the workforce will be able to find alternative employment,” said Getliffe.