Close to 70 jobs go as London fit-out firm goes under

London-based fit-out firm Twenty1 Construction has filed for administration and made most of its 70-strong staff redundant after buckling under the impact of the covid pandemic.

The £67m-turnover firm appointed Grant Thornton as administrators last week and has stopped work at all of its current schemes. It has also taken its website offline.

These include a recently started fit-out and extension of nearly 80,000 sq ft of office space at Farnborough Aerospace Centre. Last month the firm posted images of the site on its twitter account and said it was “fantastic” to see the works getting underway.

A spokesperson for Grant Thornton said: “Following significant disruption, reduction in activity levels and financial pressures experienced due to the Covid-19 pandemic, [Twenty1’s] directors have elected to place the group into administration.

“Unfortunately, this has meant that works at current project sites have stopped and the majority of employees have been made redundant.

“In line with their statutory obligations, the administrators’ priority is now to maximise value for all of the company’s stakeholders, including its employees and creditors.”

Founded in 2012 and based in Farringdon opposite Smithfield Market, the fit-out and refurbishment firm worked mainly across the capital and the South-east.

In February it completed a refurbishment of two basement levels in the City’s Heron Tower, also known as 110 Bishopsgate, with new bike stores, showers and an office. Other firms working on the job included Mace, WSP and Currie & Brown.

In its latest accounts, filed to the end of December 2020, the firm said it had restructured a “strengthened” management team and invested heavily in staff development following a “challenging” year because of the pandemic.

It added that its future pipeline was “mixed” but forecast “very modest growth” in turnover.

Turnover for 2020 was just over £67m, down from £72.7m the year before, while profit before tax was £444,000, down nearly three-quarters on the previous year’s £1.7m.

The average number of staff during the year was 72, up two from the year before.