PDR Construction: Hessle building firm abandons two major Yorkshire projects as fears grow for its future

The Yorkshire construction firm behind two prominent schemes in the region has abandoned sites across the country and closed down its website and social media channels.

PDR Construction, based in Hessle, East Yorkshire, was principal contractor on the final phase of the £17m Treadmills scheme on the former Northallerton Prison site, as well as Beal Homes’ new £4.5m head office at Bridgehead Business Park in Hull.

The 29-year-old company employed 115 staff and posted an £83m turnover for the year to April 30, 2020, up from £70m the previous year, according to its latest accounts filed at Companies House last January.

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However, it posted its first loss in a decade due to covid social distancing measures, delayed projects and supply chain disruption.

Wykeland Group managing director, Dominic Gibbons, left, and Hambleton District Council chief executive, Justin Ives, in the tower of the main cell block of the former Northallerton Prison, which has been converted to house the Centre for Digital Innovation (C4DI) Northallerton community of tech specialists. Picture: Nigel Whitfield Photography.Wykeland Group managing director, Dominic Gibbons, left, and Hambleton District Council chief executive, Justin Ives, in the tower of the main cell block of the former Northallerton Prison, which has been converted to house the Centre for Digital Innovation (C4DI) Northallerton community of tech specialists. Picture: Nigel Whitfield Photography.
Wykeland Group managing director, Dominic Gibbons, left, and Hambleton District Council chief executive, Justin Ives, in the tower of the main cell block of the former Northallerton Prison, which has been converted to house the Centre for Digital Innovation (C4DI) Northallerton community of tech specialists. Picture: Nigel Whitfield Photography.

PDR revealed an operating loss of £351,853, compared to the £373,011 profit made in 2019.

The firm is understood to have been working on two residential projects in London as well as the Yorkshire sites.

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Former prison in Northallerton is transformed into Treadmills regeneration schem...

Now the development partners are looking for a new contractor to complete the work.

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A statement from Central Northallerton Development Company, a joint venture between Wykeland and the local authority, said: “We have been notified that PDR Construction, the principal contractors for the final phase of the Treadmills scheme, can no longer fulfil their obligations under the construction contract.

“Urgent and positive discussions have taken place between the development partners, Hambleton District Council and Wykeland Group, to address this unexpected situation.

“We remain totally committed to delivering this important regeneration project in full and we are putting in place a process to appoint a new contractor to complete the works.

“This will inevitably involve some delay to the delivery programme, but we will do whatever we can to mitigate the impact of this interruption to construction. We will keep the community up to date on the progress made.”

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Meanwhile, Beal Homes’ team has taken over the project management of its new headquarters.

Chief executive Richard Beal said: “We are disappointed and saddened that PDR Construction, the principal contractor for our new head office, is not in a position to fulfil the contract.

“We have now taken over the management of the construction project directly and we want to reassure all the contractors and suppliers that this has only caused a temporary interruption to the works.

“We have reviewed construction progress in detail and put in place arrangements to manage the project’s delivery going forward. We have now resumed construction and anticipate that the vast majority of workers who have been employed on site will continue to be part of the team seeing the project through to its successful completion.”

Calls were not being answered at PDR Construction's headquarters today, with website and social media accounts also removed.

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