Building understands Deloitte is looking to sell the M&E business as a going concern

Century old M&E specialist MJN Colston has fallen into administration, putting over 400 jobs at risk.

A spokesperson for the firm - which turned over £96.1m in the year to May 2011 - confirmed Dan Butters and Matt Cowlishaw of Deloitte had been appointed as administrators.

MJN Colston is one of the construction industry’s oldest specialist contractors, founded in 1890. The company has nine offices around the UK and has worked on a number of prestigious projects, including Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. Its headquarters is in Thornaby near Middlesbrough.

An MJN Colston employee told Building that Deloitte was looking to sell the business as a going concern.

Matt Ricketts, director of construction specialist credit reference agency Top Service, commented: “We have had several companies reporting issues with slow payments from MJN Colston over the past six months, with the frequency of these issues increasing since the start of this year”