Structural steel specialist James Killelea is ready to stop trading.
The Lancashire-based company, which has been in business for 53 years, filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators on Friday (October 13). Many of Killelea’s employees posted on LinkedIn Friday that they were looking for new jobs.
Killelea was founded in 1970 by James Killelea and his son, Robert. Robert Killelea is the company’s current CEO, while his brother, Patrick Killelea, is CFO.
The news follows financial losses recorded in the company’s last two published accounts. Killelea made a pre-tax loss of £772,000 in the year to 31 May 2022, up from a pre-tax loss of £434,000 the previous year.
The company also saw its turnover fall by 50 per cent in the last financial year, from £22.7m in 2021 to £11.4m.
Killelea provided steel erection, fabrication and design services and typically worked on contracts worth up to £6.5m, according to the British Constructional Steelwork Association. The company had worked on several parking projects over the past few years, according to its accounts.
The company won £3.7m to supply and erect 2,450 tonnes of steel for a multi-storey car park at Luton Airport in 2019, which caught fire last Tuesday (October 10). The main contractor for the project was Buckingham Group, which went into administration in September.
Killelea’s latest accounts said it had incurred significant costs on one of its major contracts. As of February 2023, the company said it was in formal negotiations over contract design variations, which “fundamentally affected the overall project and the costs involved.”
The firm also recorded a drop in orders, which affected its turnover. Its early order book included a £3.2m office block and car park in Stockport, a £3.8m car park in Stoke and a £3.1m car park in Guildford.
