129-year-old firm rebuilt the Bank of England

Historic builder Holloway White Allom fell into administration this week with the loss of 175 jobs.

The 129-year-old Holloway White Allom - which rebuilt the Bank of England and constructed the Old Bailey and the fountains at Trafalgar Square - was placed into administration by KPMG last Wednesday.

KPMG was holding discussions with several interested parties as Building went to press.

In recent years the company specialised in luxury fit-out and high-end residential, achieving a peak turnover of £90m.

Will Wright, a restructuring director at KPMG said: “Holloway White Allom has a strong brand and we are working hard to find a buyer for the assets of the business.”

Private equity firm Privet Capital stepped in to save the contractor earlier this year after it began to encounter financial difficulties.

But Privet director Stephen Keating said problems with “one particular contract” had pulled the contractor under.

Credit reference agency Top Service Credit said it had been monitoring the firm for “some time” after a number of reports of late payment.

Keating said: “It has been struggling for a while now. We put in some cash but we had a particular problem with one contract, which was the main issue.”

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