Yorkshire construction and property group Caddick has acquired part of collapsed building facade specialist Speedclad.
A £100,000 deal sees Caddick Construction take control of Speedclad's Speedpanel brand and a licence to continue running two of the Northallerton firm's properties. The move also includes the transfer of ten employees and some plant and machinery from the firm, which fell into administration in August after what was described as challenges on multiple fronts.
A report from administrators at Interpath shows Speedclad had suffered severe disruption to its pipeline of projects during the pandemic, with jobs being postponed or abandoned. Despite a subsequent recovery in turnover one of the cladding specialist's major contracts became loss making which impacted working capital.
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Caddick will continue to operate Speedpanel's manufacturing facility while the ex-Speedclad staff will initially be based from Caddick's Knottingley headquarters. The business will operate as CCL Facades as an independent service.
Paul Dodsworth, Caddick Construction group managing director, said: "The acquisition of Speedpanel and key staff members means that our current projects and clients will not be affected by the administration. Façades put huge pressure on a project’s budget, particularly now when the industry is adversely affected by rising inflation as well as supply chain and labour issues.
"It demonstrates that Caddick Construction is able to act quickly to overcome obstacles and protect clients from the effect of failures.” Paul Caddick, chairman of Caddick Group which employs more than 500 people, added: "We welcome our new colleagues to the group who bring with them exceptional skills and expertise in this niche market. They now have strong financial backing and will continue to work independently across the construction market."
In August, 44 Speedclad staff were made redundant after the firm failed to raise the funding it needed. Documents show the business owed £2.6m to creditors.
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