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Bluestone strips Benson carcass
16:47 05 Jan 2005
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A black hole in Benson Group's balance sheet triggered the group's
collapse into administration on Monday. Within an hour, Morgan
Sindall stepped forward, paying £3m for three of its five
operating divisions. They will be added to its Bluestone
construction division.
Benson made a pre-tax loss of £280,000 on a £125m turnover in the 12 months to 31 December 2003, following a loss of £700,000 in 2002.
The move follows hard on the heels of the decision to put Benson Midlands into receivership a fortnight ago. Benson Midlands was also in the red last year, logging a £125,000 loss.
Bluestone had already evaluated: Benson South East, based in Reigate; Benson South West, which operates out of Southampton; and Benson Home Counties, with headquarters in Hatfield, Hertfordshire.
Bluestone bought the three businesses' assets and hopes to novate 38 of the active contracts and 55 historic projects. The businesses' 175 staff have been transferred to Bluestone under TUPE rules. The three divisions had a combined turnover of £75m a year.
All Benson's unsecured creditors find themselves having to fight for crumbs with PricewaterhouseCooper, the administrator.
The remaining two arms - Interiors and Benson Thames Valley - accounted for a further £40m of group turnover. As CJ went to press, the administrator was looking for buyers.
A source said: "The problem was that Benson's bank wanted its money back as there was a hole in the balance sheet of between £5m and £10m, depending on how you judge things. The hole was sitting in the
valuations allocated to work-in-progress and had built up
year on year."
Graham Shennan, Bluestone's managing director, said: "We had been looking beforehand as we'd wanted to expand Bluestone. What attracted us to Benson was that the southern businesses were well run and profitable."
Benson's staff were told of the group's looming problems at 8am on Monday morning. One of its sites, the £2m communal mental hospital in Lee Road, Havant, had to be secured by police after unpaid M&E sub-
contractors arrived to strip out materials and other items
of value.
Benson made a pre-tax loss of £280,000 on a £125m turnover in the 12 months to 31 December 2003, following a loss of £700,000 in 2002.
The move follows hard on the heels of the decision to put Benson Midlands into receivership a fortnight ago. Benson Midlands was also in the red last year, logging a £125,000 loss.
Bluestone had already evaluated: Benson South East, based in Reigate; Benson South West, which operates out of Southampton; and Benson Home Counties, with headquarters in Hatfield, Hertfordshire.
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Bluestone bought the three businesses' assets and hopes to novate 38 of the active contracts and 55 historic projects. The businesses' 175 staff have been transferred to Bluestone under TUPE rules. The three divisions had a combined turnover of £75m a year.
All Benson's unsecured creditors find themselves having to fight for crumbs with PricewaterhouseCooper, the administrator.
The remaining two arms - Interiors and Benson Thames Valley - accounted for a further £40m of group turnover. As CJ went to press, the administrator was looking for buyers.
A source said: "The problem was that Benson's bank wanted its money back as there was a hole in the balance sheet of between £5m and £10m, depending on how you judge things. The hole was sitting in the
valuations allocated to work-in-progress and had built up
year on year."
Graham Shennan, Bluestone's managing director, said: "We had been looking beforehand as we'd wanted to expand Bluestone. What attracted us to Benson was that the southern businesses were well run and profitable."
Benson's staff were told of the group's looming problems at 8am on Monday morning. One of its sites, the £2m communal mental hospital in Lee Road, Havant, had to be secured by police after unpaid M&E sub-
contractors arrived to strip out materials and other items
of value.
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