Set up in 1950, J Tomlinson had seven decades in business
A Nottingham contractor with seven decades in business went under owing £33m, an update from its administrator has said.
J Tomlinson was founded in the 1950s as an electrical contracting firm and employed around 400 people.
But it went into administration in July after plans to sell parts of the business failed because the firm did not have sufficient funds to keep going while would-be rescuers were sought.
The update from FRP Advisory said J Tomlinson racked up a £1.3m loss on a student accommodation job while it also lost £2.5m on several care sector schemes that it had fixed prices on before 2020 and the outbreak of covid-19.
“Input costs subsequently rose substantially due to inflation which could not be recovered from the client,” FRP added.
It also was on the wrong end of an adjudication decision in April against Worcestershire County Council which ordered it to pay £2.7m to the authority following the construction of a school.
The council is owed nearly £3m as a result of J Tomlinson’s collapse, while the firm’s staff are owed a further £3.5m although the report said they will get £613,000 between them back.
HRMC is owed £5.3m in missing VAT, PAYE and NI payments while trade contractors are owed around £17m. A plumbing firm is the largest trade creditor and is owed more than £300,000. Unsecured creditors have been told not to expect any money back.
In its last set of accounts, J Tomlinson, which carried out construction, maintenance, refurbishment, FM, engineering and renewable energy services, posted a turnover of £106m with a pre-tax loss of £657,000 in the year to September 2021.
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