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Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:59 pm
by Dave_L
Very sad news this evening as Connaught Plc are placed into administration.
Connaught Plc enters administration
It was on the cards since June when a very bleak trading statement was issued which in turn caused the share price to drop through the floor.
I've spent many days working on various Connaught sites locally - I hope the employees (if the worst should happen) can find alternative positions in the industry.
I'm thankful our last valuation of works was paid 4 weeks ago in full albeit rather delayed. I feel terribly sorry for those who won't be so fortunate.
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 8:06 pm
by pickwell paving
just seen that on the news like you said its the lads you feel sorry for especially the way things are at the min trying to find alternative work pleased you got paid though.
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 8:22 pm
by bobbi o
RBS gave them 15mill just a few weeks ago so they could continue trading,you can thank a stupid scots bank for getting paid dave!
got no sympathy for these companies £200 mill of debt! absolute joke. you often see three of their vans outside a cooncil house just to change a tap washer. they dont live in the real business world like the rest of us. good riddance,hope more of them go down. more work for the small companies.
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 8:34 pm
by rab1
every company carries debt but Connaught seem from what i`ve read were poorly ran.
the work they did will still have to be done and that means someone will always fill the gap.(another mans sorrow is another's gold) :O
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 8:52 pm
by henpecked
Shame when a large company goes tits, it the PAYE guys I feel sorry for. But as Rab says, its more for everyone else.
Did think Connaught seemed very stable tho, was on a few big sites (The £650 million Queen Elizabeth hospital in Brum for one) where they had a huge chunk of the groundworks. Odd how even the big fish can still get fried.
Hp
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:13 pm
by dig dug dan
brand new vans every year didn't help
Plus they seem to spend all day driving around doing nothing. round here they do anyway
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:19 pm
by michaelthegardener
they ruined a gate and a fence i put up 
they had the contract for cladding some flats here so they just hacked the fence an gate to fit after ??? they even did it with a wall ended up with an 8 inch gap :O
i dont feel sorry for the company just the people out of work and those owed my local council has a habbit of putting contractors out of work they take them on so they expand then they drop them sudenly a carpernter and plumber have boath gone bust cos of it
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:26 pm
by rab1
only ever seen one ot two vans up here but get the impression they thought they were the council. ???
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:30 pm
by Mikey_C
bobbi o wrote:RBS gave them 15mill just a few weeks ago so they could continue trading,you can thank a stupid scots bank for getting paid dave!
didn't the uk tax payer end up buying rbs during the "recession"?
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:33 pm
by Mikey_C
henpecked wrote:it the PAYE guys I feel sorry for.
paye employs will be paid by either the administrators or the uk government, they get paid and get their notice/redundancy, some compensation, I suppose.
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:35 pm
by rab1
yes as well as a few others. 
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 11:18 pm
by lutonlagerlout
near enough all PLCs have debt
its called gearing,basically they get shedloads of money off banks,investors etc supposedly to expand the business, therefore increasing turnover and profit,and the dividend and share price rocket
In reality as bobbi and dan have pointed out. it results in 2 vans for every man, and 3 blokes for every job scenarios.
working in luton last week saw no end of their red vans floating about the estates
thing is the top nobs at connaught wont take much of a hit financially,its the rank and file brickies,plumbers,paviors etc who get hit hardest.
LLL
Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 11:41 pm
by bobbi o
Yeah RBS is about 90% owned by the uk tax payer.
i hate the big construction co's. we're well in with balfour beatty at mo,but they're c***s at paying like the rest of them.90 days if your lucky. i just add a whack on at the pricing stage knowing this,but cash flow is a beatch if your into them for a lot of money. our cash flow is horrendous at moment. we're busy at mo and doing ok, but of course the more work you invoice per month the more money you need in reserve to pay the bills. we've found it the worst times ever for this,as we're pumping out so much work, while customers are so slow in paying. very dangerous times. if bobbi didnt have a large wad tucked away, i wouldnt be sleeping at night.
just turned down some good work from ROK (the nations builder) after the well publicised suspension of their financial director, when they discovered they'd lost millions in the deep hole of calcutta. had a mind to phone up the legendary Garvis Snook and ask him for money up front if they wanted the work done. just knew i wouldnt be seeing any money on that one for a long long time.
be careful out their amigos,its going to be a long cold winter.
Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 7:43 pm
by Dave_L
Bobbi is singing from the very same hymn sheet as we are.........
This coming winter is going to be very cold indeed.
Re:The shocking amount of Connaught vans that run about the UK - what is the cost of that per month?? And then there's the fuel!!! Makes me wonder how the vans are getting around at the moment, no fuel card issuer in their right mind would take on that risk, surely?
Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:06 pm
by Mikey_C
bobbi o wrote:Yeah RBS is about 90% owned by the uk tax payer.
i hate the big construction co's. we're well in with balfour beatty at mo,but they're c***s at paying like the rest of them.90 days if your lucky. i just add a whack on at the pricing stage knowing this,but cash flow is a beatch if your into them for a lot of money. our cash flow is horrendous at moment.
just turned down some good work from ROK (the nations builder) after the well publicised suspension of their financial director, when they discovered they'd lost millions in the deep hole of calcutta. had a mind to phone up the legendary Garvis Snook and ask him for money up front if they wanted the work done.
if the work isn't that price sensitive can you not factor in the cost of a invoicing companies services. i think the fee is about 10% this would help with the cash flow and enable you to take on work for companies who you are unsure if they will pay.
alot of companies seem to run with debt I can't understand it myself.
I know someone who ran there own business employing about 15 people, when he sold the business it had nearly £300K in bank, people not paying for 90 days wasn't an issue, he also used to approach suppliers and month/year end and get fantastic deals by offering to pay cash there and then. A few years on the company had an overdarft of £250K and growing and was starting to struggle, but still had the supported of the parent company as being well run.
