Michael J Lonsdale, one of the UK’s largest M&E contractors, has appointed administrators.
The firm, which has offices in London and Langley, Berkshire, was founded in 1986 and had a turnover of more than £2.9 billion in almost 40 years of business, working on major projects such as the 51-storey Bishopsgate Tower and 8 and the Paddington Cube in London.
It generated more than £191m in the 12 months to 30 September 2022, with a profit of £2.5m, down slightly from £2.7m the previous year. At the time, the company’s independent auditors said they could see nothing that cast doubt on the company’s solvency.
However, on Monday (October 2) the company collapsed and appointed insolvency professionals from Begbies Traynor to sell the company’s assets in a bid to recover money for creditors.
The approximately 240 employees of Michael J Lonsdale were informed in an email from company management, which asked them to return the company’s IT equipment. The administrators are expected to make most of the company’s staff redundant.
Michael J Lonsdale was 77th UK’s largest construction company, according to the CN100 2023, and the seventh largest M&E contractor according to the CN Specialists Index 2022. It operated in sectors such as pharmaceutical, commercial offices, equipment, education, hotels and leisure, railway and data centers.
In financial results for the year to 30 September 2022, published in July, the group said: “The post-Covid economy has brought its own challenges with excessive inflation stemming from rising food prices public services and the war in Ukraine.
“Michael J Lonsdale has addressed these economic conditions by adapting internal approaches to ensure they are robust and aim to protect the jobs margin and working closely with the supply chain to adhere to the project schedule” .
The group was working on ongoing projects such as the University of London’s Queen Square Institute of Neurology, which is due for completion in July 2024.
Begbies Traynor was approached for comment.
