Mouchel slims down further

The group, which has an office in Leeds and has seen its share price tumble by 90 per cent over the past six months, is selling the business to engineering group Mott MacDonald for £2.55m plus up to a further £0.85m.

Mott MacDonald, based in Croydon, has offices in Leeds, Sheffield, Skipton and York.

The deal follows last week’s disposal of its rail arm to Australian firm Sinclair Knight Merz for £3.4m and a further £2.5m in working capital.

Mouchel, which has seen two chairmen and a chief executive depart following another profits warning two weeks ago, said the money raised would go to pay off debts that stood at £87.4m in July.

After the latest warning, Mouchel also said it was in talks with its banks as it was likely to breach the covenants on its borrowings.

New chief executive Grant Rumbles, who took over less than two weeks ago, said: “The sale of Mouchel’s pipeline design business is another key step in our strategy to focus on Mouchel’s leading positions in core markets.”