Jobs at risk as builders call in administrators

Rok has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers as administrator but yesterday PwC said it was too early to say how many staff could be made redundant and that job losses will depend on the state of the business.

Rok employs 92 people at its Leeds office and 68 in Wakefield. It also employs 33 staff in Grimsby.

The firm's 3,800 staff have been told they will continue to be paid.

Mike Jervis, joint administrator at PwC, said: "Employees will naturally be concerned about their position, but they will continue to be paid if they attend work and perform their duties as normal."

PwC said will look for a buyer after Rok fell into difficulties in meeting its financial obligations.

Rok revealed problems in August when it suspended finance director Ashley Martin and launched an investigation into the plumbing, heating and electrical unit.

The company cleared Mr Martin and said the unit's problems were due to reduced work from the private housing sector and weak operational, commercial and financial controls.

At the time Rok, which also revealed sizeable half-year losses, said there would be job losses in Wakefield following the decision to close the plumbing division.

Earlier this year, Connaught went into administration leading to about 1,400 redundancies.

Rok expanded into Yorkshire in 2005 with the acquisition of Lemmeleg, the Wakefield construction business co-founded by Yorkshire Forward chairman Terry Hodgkinson.