Debts mount at McGarvey

Glasgow-based McGarvey Construction has gone into receivership with debts believed to be around £3m, due to cashflow problems. Thirty three jobs have been lost.

The contractor, which had divisions operating in utilities, civil engineering and concrete structural repairs, is believed to have run into payment problems on a number of contracts.

CJ understands that joint receiver John Reid is overseeing the completion of five contracts on the company’s books before considering whether to wind up the business, or sell it off either as a collective or as separate entities.

Nobody at McGarvey was available for comment.

Over the past two years, the company has closed offices in Edinburgh, Dumfries and Aberdeen with the loss of 130 jobs. McGarvey’s most recent set of accounts are for the year to 31 January 2004 and show a rise in pre-tax profit to £436,220, from £253,342 the year before.

• Meanwhile, Bernard Ward, the Peterborough-based contractor, went into administration on Friday last week. A spokeswoman for the administrator, KPMG, said: “We are reviewing the options, but I can’t give you any details.” The latest published figures show a pre-tax profit of £310,000 from a turnover of £16m in the 12 months to 31 March 2004.