West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s £6m HQ plans in limbo following Clugston’s collapse

Wellington House on Wellington Street in Leeds.

The organisation, which oversees large transport and infrastructure projects in the Leeds City Region, was left in the lurch after its contractor, Clugston Construction, was one of the companies that went into administration with the loss of 150 jobs.

The company won the deal last month to revamp Wellington House in Leeds, which has been around since the early 1900s, into modern offices and conference rooms.

The project, which was being delivered through the YORbuild 2 Framework, included the phased refurbishment of the five-storey office block, which is situated opposite Leeds Central train station and adjacent to The Majestic.

A West Yorkshire Combined Authority spokeswoman said the organisation only became aware of Clugston’s troubles when it went into administration last Friday.

“Work on the Wellington House scheme is at a very early stage and has now stopped,” she said. “No work has been invoiced to the Combined Authority.

“We will consider the best option to get the project restarted.

“In line with our standard procedures for a scheme of this kind, a full due diligence was carried out and no issues were flagged.

“Naturally our concerns and sympathies are with Clugston’s employees and suppliers who will inevitably be affected by this news.”

Clugston Group went into administration and made 150 redundancies following losses on a number of large and complex energy from waste contracts accentuated by the insolvency of a key subcontractor.

Operating from over 25 sites primarily across the North and Midlands, the business has companies involved in construction, civil engineering, logistics, property development and facilities management.

James Clark and Howard Smith from KPMG’s restructuring practice were appointed joint administrators to Clugston Group and Clugston Construction. In addition, Clark and Chris Pole, from KPMG, were appointed joint administrators to Clugston Services.

A KPMG spokeswoman said approximately 30 of the jobs lost were based in Yorkshire in Beverley, Hull and Leeds, 100 were in Scunthorpe and 20 in other locations.

In a statement last week, the administrators said: “Despite negotiations with key stakeholders to resolve issues caused by the losses, mounting pressures on the business have caused the directors to seek the appointment of administrators.”