Wembley roofing contractor goes into administration

Roofing contractor Weatherwise UK has gone into administration due to cash flow problems partly triggered by work on Wembley stadium.

Administrators Begbies Traynor said the company had experienced cash flow problems as the result of delays in resolving a number of “sizeable claims” on Wembley stadium, its £2.5m contract at Malmaison Hotel in Liverpool and other city centre developments.

It said the money tied up in the claims was about £1.5m.

Begbies Traynor said it had negotiated a management buyout with the company, which represents the “best available” deal for the benefit of creditors.

Weatherwise UK designed and installed the roof at Wembley stadium but spent a year longer than it had expected to on the project, which meant it had to move resources away from other schemes.

Multiplex revised Weatherwise’s contract to take account of the delays and it made a profit, but it posted a loss of £157,000 on a turnover of £14.5m in 2006 because of the impact on other projects.

Four other specialists went into administration due to work at Wembley. These include Wembley seating contractor and fit-out specialist Pel Group in July 2006 and Stoke-on-Trent-based plumbing and pipework company SGD engineering services in December 2005.

Cladding specialists have endured a tough market in the past year. Glass-cladding firm Space Decks was bought out of administration in August 2007 and cladding specialist Pluswall Facades went into voluntary liquidation in January 2007.

It is understood Weatherwise UK was working on the Bristol Broadmead shopping centre before it went into administration. The area is currently undergoing an £11m facelift.

Weatherwise chairman Steve Torkington said Weatherwise Export Ltd and Weatherwise Special Projects Ltd had not been affected.