Kinetics to shed 500 jobs as administrator moves in

Business recovery firm Begbies Traynor was this week appointed administrator of £100m-turnover social housing and renewables contractor, Kinetics, as more firms are hit by the worsening economic climate.

The administration means the “vast majority” of the 550 remaining Kinetics staff have been made redundant, and comes as the recession claims Liverpool concrete contractor Mayfield, which collapsed last week with the loss of more than 80 jobs.

All Kinetics staff were sent home on Friday, but a source close to the business said 200 of these had either transferred to other contractors picking up Kinetics’ work, or gained further employment.

Kinetics shut down its northern operation in june with the loss of 40% of its then 1,000-strong staff

Trade creditors, which include Wolseley, are thought to be owed more than £1m.

The full administration follows Kinetics shutting down its northern operations in June with the loss of 40% of its then 1,000-strong staff, saying it was to refocus its business around gas servicing and exit the social housing maintenance market.

The administrator said last week’s collapse came after a consequent “confusion” regarding the solvency of other subsidiary companies, and from suppliers’ refusal to continue trading with it after its credit insurance cover was removed.

Mayfield, which was placed in administration on 8 July, was a subsidiary of Glasgow-based McKean Group, which was placed into receivership on 7 July.

Last month, two other subsidiaries, McKean & Company and Hudson Vision were liquidated with the loss of 42 jobs. The McKean family sold the business in 2007 in a management buy-out led by Mayfield directors David Noar and Mark Fallon, in a deal worth about £1m.

A spokesperson for Ernst & Young, which is handling the administration and receivership, said it was too early to put a figure on the two firms’ debt.

The collapses come amid a raft of economic data pointing to continued weaknesses in the construction economy.