Dearle & Henderson, the last large acquisition made by failed property consultant Erinaceous, has been broken up as part of the sell-off at the firm, writes Sarah Richardson.

The Birmingham office of D&H, which was bought by Erinaceous for £4m in March last year, has been bought by Francis Graves. Francis Graves, also formerly a part of Erinaceous, completed a management buyout this week.

The Scottish offices of D&H have completed buyouts, but the London offices have been closed as part of an administration process that has cost 546 jobs, including 155 in the building consultancy division.

Seven firms in that arm have completed management buyouts since Erinaceous went into administration 11 days ago with debts of more than £250m.

The other buyouts have been completed by Nolans, Leach Rhodes Walker, Monaghans and Rose Project Services. They are thought to have saved 330 jobs.

Three of Erinaceous’ businesses have been sold to a vehicle owned by the firm’s banks. Following the sale of Erinaceous Insurance Services last week, the sale of the residential management and property maintenance divisions have been completed, protecting another 1,800 jobs.

Postscript

For the full story of Erinacious go to www.building.co.uk/archive

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