Parent went under earlier month because of unprofitable contracts

Evelyn Grace Academy

Source: Luke Hayes

Lakesmere’s Northern Irish construction business McMullen Facades has gone into administration.

The firm, which was set up in 1971 and  was bought by Lakesmere five  years ago, employs 270 staff.

Joint administrators Richard Hawes and Peter Allen of Deloitte said the firm will continue to trade and added that employees’ jobs were safe.

The pair, who were appointed as administrators of McMullen’s stricken parent earlier this month, added: ”The business will continue to trade whilst we seek to sell it as a going concern and there are ongoing discussions with a number of interested parties.”

Allen said: “McMullen is a profitable business that unfortunately has been affected by cash flow issues in the wider Lakesmere group.

McMullen is headquartered in Moira, Northern Ireland with a factory in Portadown and head office function in Winchester. Its most recent financial results for the year ended 31 January 2016 showed turnover of £37.3m versus £25.9m from the previous 12 month period. 

McMullen has worked on projects including the London 2012 media centre at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and The Obel – the tallest building in Belfast at 280ft. It also worked on the 2011 Stirling Prize winning project, the Evelyn Grace Academy (pictured) in south London designed by Zaha Hadid Architects.

Its most recent high profile win came in September when it was awarded a multimillion pound contract by Canary Wharf Contractors to deliver a bespoke façade system to a new 42-storey residential development, which forms part of the wider generation of Canary Wharf’s New District.

Administrators at Deloitte blamed “a number of unprofitable contracts” for Lakesmere’s collapse.

Deloitte had said at the time that McMullen Facades was not part of the insolvency and continued to trade, but was looking at options for its sale.