Kent firm went down last month owing more than £9m

A £20m scheme that had been due to be built by collapsed contractor Claritas is set to be picked up by Bam, Building understands.

The Kent contractor went into administration last month, more than a decade after it was set up. The firm sank owing suppliers and HMRC more than £9m.

Claritas had been due to begin work on the scheme at Coleman Street later this year. But Bam is now understood to have been lined up as replacement contractor for the job near Moorgate.

Emrys_Coleman_St_Exterior_Hero

Source: Emrys Architects

The Coleman Street proposals will include garden terraces at the upper levels

Designed by Emrys Architects, work for developer CLI Dartriver, which was formed in 2020 by Conran Land, Indigo Invest and London property firm Dartriver, will add an extra 1,367 sq m of space at the site and retain the Victorian façade of 63 Coleman Street.

Deconstruct is on site putting up the frame having previously carried out demolition and basement work.

The upper levels of the new building, which will total more than 5,000 sq m, are set back to create garden terraces.

Others working on the deal include QS Exigere, project manager Capital and Provincial and structural engineer Heyne Tillett Steel.

Claritas, which in its last set of published accounts had a turnover of £50m in the year to March 2022, had 110 staff when it went under.

In an update last week, liquidator Begbies Traynor said the amount owed to creditors was around £9.4m with HMRC owed £1.8m. A logistics firm is owed £668,000, an M&E firm is missing £500,000 while a scaffolding business is owed £300,000.

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