Waterloo Air goes into receivership

The building products manufacturing group and Rethinking Construction exemplar Waterloo Air Management (WAM) has gone into receivership.
However, its former owners have bought back two parts - grills and diffusers - and are trading under the name of Waterloo Air Products (WAP).
WAP owner Rick Edmondson said this week: "A lot of our business is in commercial office blocks and that sector has taken a terrible knock."
WAM had been losing money for at least three years - accounts show the group was in the red to the tune of more than £800,000 in 2001 and a further £450,000 in 2002.
Accounts for the 12 months to June 2003, yet to be published, will show further losses of more than £500,000.
"We restructured in the summer, but it became clear that we weren't going to survive," said Edmondson.
WAM, based in Aylesford, Kent, had an annual turnover of £14m and more than 130 employees. It was a keen advocate of the Rethinking Construction agenda and integrated supply chain philosophy. It had established partnering arrangements with several major construction firms.
WAM was part of the Hunter Group, founded by Edmondson, his brother Ron and sister Annie Van-Alphen. Its £19m-a-year turnover was split between WAM and Waterloo BV, a sister group involved in the manufacture of building materials in Holland with an annual turnover of £5m.
Edmondson has left WAM's debts with the receiver, buying back the grill and diffuser manufacturing capabilities only. Other former lines have been discontinued.
However, anyone with a part-finished installation will be offered assistance in sourcing the parts necessary to complete that scheme. "It's a managed exit," said Edmondson. "CJ readers should know that we are managing the run-down in supplies."
He added: "At a trading level, we are profitable in grills and diffusers, but there are the costs of redundancies to carry."
Staffing numbers have been cut by about 30. There is also the cost of buying the two profitable divisions back from the receiver. Edmondson would give no indication of that sum.
WAM had been a member of pan-industry think-tank Be. Asked if WAP will continue with that membership, Edmondson said: "We would like to remain in Be as we believe that partnering is the way of the future."