Sureserve sets aside £2.5m to cover Lakehouse defects

The former parent company to Lakehouse has set aside £2.5m of cash to cover issues stemming from jobs the contractor was carrying out before it was sold.

In its preliminary results for the year to September 2018, Sureserve said it had made provisions of £4.9m in its accounts that were associated the disposal of Lakehouse Contracts Limited and Foster Property Maintenance Limited.

Sureserve sold Lakehouse Contracts for £500,000 to a company called Mapps Group Limited last summer.

In its results Sureserve said it had made a provision of £2.5m for costs of claims made under parent company guarantees and bonds.

It said the £2.5m covered claims which were “considered probable following risk assessment of all outstanding parent company guarantees and bonds”.

Sureserve said the estimated costs had been based on independent third-party estimates.

Bob Holt, chairman of Sureserve, said: “The divestment included certain contracts yet to be finalised.

“It is hoped that those outstanding works will be concluded by the time of the group interim results to March 2019. A further update will be provided at that time.”

The other £2.4m of the £4.9m provision had been put aside for expected costs of the disposal. The company said this had been settled post-year end.