Hollandia replaces Cleveland Bridge at Wembley

Cleveland Bridge will play no further part in the rebuilding of the new Wembley Stadium as of 27 July after Dutch company, Hollandia, was confirmed as its replacement on the £757m project.

Although Cleveland Bridge will continue to be involved in the design, fabrication and delivery of steel, the steel contractor has agreed a 28-day handover of the site-related works at Wembley "as part of its ongoing negotiations with main contractor Multiplex".

A Cleveland Bridge statement confirmed: "We regret that this decision was communicated to trade unions yesterday by Multiplex, prior to the formal written confirmation of an agreement between the two companies.

"Cleveland Bridge is informing all on-site staff about the situation going forward."

"Cleveland Bridge has successfully completed the most challenging part of the Wembley Stadium job - assisting on the technical design, its construction and the lifting of the Wembley Arch. The Arch will stand not only as a geographical landmark, but also as testament to the groundbreaking achievements of Cleveland Bridge and all of the staff who collaborated on the project," the statement concluded.

A Multiplex statement said that the agreement reached between Cleveland Bridge and Multiplex and Hollandia and Multiplex followed several weeks of discussions.

"Both companies remain totally committed to delivering the world's best stadium and will ensure there is a smooth transition between Cleveland Bridge and Hollandia on site," it said.

"These steps have been agreed between the parties to ensure the timely delivery of the stadium ahead of schedule.

A specialist management team from Hollandia has been on the Wembley site for several weeks and is completing the smooth hand-over of responsibility for the steel-related erection.

Multiplex also confirmed that Hollandia's appointment "would have no adverse impact on the construction timetable, which is still running well ahead of schedule".