An Ayrshire house builder has gone into administration with the loss of almost 50 jobs.
Connect Modular, based in the Caponacre Industrial Estate in Cumnock, called in administrators on Monday, January 6 after facing “significant financial challenges” in recent months.
Hope South West Limited, a company linked to Connect Modular, went into liquidation on Tuesday, January 7.
Both companies are part of The Wee House Group which is a leading provider of high quality, sustainable, affordable, modular homes to housing associations, local authorities and community trusts across the UK.
Previous projects have included housing developments in Stevenston for North Ayrshire Council and in Kilmarnock for Cunninghame Housing Association.
In total, 48 jobs have been lost with 38 people employed by Connect Modular and 10 employed by Hope South West being made redundant.
Administrators FRP Advisory have said they are supporting the affected staff with applications for compensation to the Redundancy Payments Service.
Michelle Elliot and Callum Carmichael, partners at FRP, have been appointed as joint administrators of Connect Modular and joint provisional liquidators of Hope South West.
FRP said that the companies have “suffered significant financial challenges in recent months” due to rising operational costs and losses made on previous contracts which placed “significant pressure” on trading and cash flow.
Both companies have now ceased trading.
Commenting, Michelle Elliot said: “Connect Modular Limited and Hope South West Limited had built a strong reputation and track record in delivering high quality, affordable modular homes across Scotland.
“Unfortunately, following losses made on a number of historic contracts and rising operational costs, the businesses were facing significant cash flow pressure.
“Despite the best efforts of the director in exploring alternatives in recent weeks, the cash position deteriorated significantly placing unsustainable pressure on the business.
“We will now focus on marketing the assets for sale and on providing every possible support to the staff for claims to the Redundancy Payments Office and accessing support agencies such as PACE.”
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