Dolphin Quays blow as Orb goes into administration

The multi-million development of the Dolphin Quays site in Poole, Dorset, has been dealt another blow with the news that Jersey-based Orb Estates plc has gone into administration.

Orb Estates, which has a controlling stake in Quays Group, was handed to administrator, The Macdonald Partnership, on 11 July.

The firms behind the scheme, Poole Development and Dolphin Quay Developments, both subsidiaries of the Orb Group which trade as the Quays Group, were forced into receivership last month and are now being run by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Douglas Macdonald, a director of The Macdonald Partnership, said: "The quality parts of the business have now been restructured.

There are also many things we need to do and we will be investigating at a later stage."

Last month, over 250 contract workers at the £25m Dolphin Quays site were told by main contractor Taylor Woodrow to down tools, due to "contractual non-payment issues" (CJ 18 July).

A spokesperson for PricewaterhouseCoopers said he didn't have any comment to make on the news that Orb Estates had gone into administration.

A Taylor Woodrow spokeswoman also said: "There is nothing more to say. The discussions are still ongoing with the receiver."

The latest news has sent shock waves through the town of Poole, with even Poole Borough Council unaware that the parent company of the Dolphin Quays development itself had gone into administration.

Poole Borough Council leader Brian Leverett said: "Our immediate concern is to get the building work finished. It is in a prime tourist location, but at the moment it is nothing more than an incomplete building site."