Dew Pitchmastic goes into administration

The end of the road for Dew Pitchmastic

Dew Pitchmastic plc has itself gone into administration a week after pulling the plug on two of its subsidiaries, Dew Construction and Dew Remediation with the loss of 285 jobs.

A source said: "This leaves 400 directly employed individuals without a job, together with the string of subcontractors, many of whom are owed, individually, hundreds of thousands of pounds."

Dew Pitchmastic plc had a pension fund deficit of £29m. Losses on contracts in Gibraltar are thought to run to around £1m to £1.5m.

Until 18 months ago, Hugh Grayson had been running the business as both chairman and chief executive. "He then took a bit of a back seat, bringing in a chief executive," said the source.

This week, Grayson was reported to be working from the group's Sheffield office, where Pitchmastic PmB, the division providing structural waterproofing for bridges and roofing, is still operational. Grayson's secretary said he would not speak to the press.

A source told Contract Journal: "A week before the ship started to go down, Ernst & Young had the paperwork to see if some jobs could be run to the finish so as to get the money in.

"There was the feasibility of finishing some. Barton House is one example. Dew is refurbishing a tower block for Hammersmith & Fulham Council and three of the four quarters are complete.

"The final quarter, which involves moving residents out of 22 storeys, was due to be completed by the end of August.

"There is a similar project running in Slough. Both are in the hands of Kevin Edser, regional director, and Lee Ruston, senior QS. They are both new to the Sidcup office, which was previously run by John Wallace. He was putting in an 18-hour day and had a good relationship with all Dew's local clients. He's moved on and is doing well."

[Contract Journal, 1 June 2006, p. 3]