KPMG says Connaught will continue trading

The administrator at Connaught has said the firm will continue trading as 4,400 employees fret over their jobs.

KPMG was brought in as administrator of Connaught Partnerships yesterday, the part of the firm that is headquartered in Leeds and employs 4,400 workers.

The administrators have made clear that they will try to keep the firm running while it hands work to other firms, in the hope that employees and sub-contractors will find work with those who take over the contracts.

In a statement the administrators said: “The administrators of Connaught Partnerships Ltd will trade the business in the short term with a view to selling and novating contracts to other providers; collecting debts and working with Connaught’s customers, such as councils and housing associations, to minimise disruption to the public. 

“The administrators are hopeful that the majority of staff will be transferred to alternative providers. However, to the extent that alternative providers do not take on employees then redundancies will need to be made. Decisions regarding redundancies will be announced as soon as possible.”

One of the administrators, Mr Heis, followed: “We will work closely with customers, employees, subcontractors and alternative providers to ensure services are maintained as far as possible and contracts and employees are transferred to alternative providers.”