Hundreds of jobs at risk after building firm with Kirkby office goes under

J Tomlinson is based in Beeston, Nottingham, but has a regional office at Prospect Court, Low Moor Business Park, Kirkby.

The firm employed about 400 members of staff, with the majority reportedly made redundant.

Announcing the decision, Mark Davis, chief executive officer, said: “We as a board have worked tirelessly to attract additional overall finance into the group to invest for the future. Sadly today, we have to announce we have been unsuccessful in this regard.

“Since Covid impacted the world and the local business community, we have worked tremendously hard to build the JTL brand across our chosen sectors with great success which is testament to all our people.

“We have many very long service colleagues who have spent a good portion of their lives supporting our business, along with their family and friends, we hoped we would end their journey with a bright future for the next generation, sadly we have run out of time.

“I would like to express my gratitude to the JTL family for their proactive attitude to our customers, to each other and the supply chain who have supported us over a long period of trading and especially post covid and the impact this outcome will have on them, and their business and their employees.

“We have employees with 30 years time invested and customers lasting 15-20 years which is incredible and tragic.

“We have done our upmost to communicate timely and provide the support to our teams which is very difficult when decisions of this magnitude are taken and implemented in the tightest of timelines.

“We will do our utmost to provide support and guidance throughout the forthcoming difficult period.”

FRP Advisory has been appointed as administrator.

Raj Mittal, from FRP, said: “Despite its scale and the success achieved across a number of its divisions, the severe impact of Covid and recent inflationary pressures meant J Tomlinson was not in a financial position to continue trading and so we have had to make the difficult decision to cease operations.

“We’re now assessing options on next steps and have started our engagement with clients and creditors regarding ongoing projects and liabilities. We are providing support for affected staff in making applications to the redundancy payments service.”

The company has been in business since the 1950s and, it said, “offers a fully integrated solution covering the whole building lifecycle from new build to refurbishment, repairs and maintenance, engineering services, renewable energy solutions, and facilities management”.

In 2021, the company was awarded a second five-year contract to refurbish Ashfield Council’s housing stock, following the completion of an initial five-year deal.

Ant Newton, managing director of J Tomlinson’s regeneration division, said at the time: “We are thrilled to be able to continue our partnership with Ashfield Council, one of J Tomlinson’s longest-standing clients.

“As part of our renewed relationship, we will continue to work together with the Council to support them in enhancing the communities of Ashfield with high-quality, industry-leading housing services, upgrading and future-proofing homes across the district.”

Paul Parkinson, council director of operations, said “The council is saddened one of its longest standing partners has gone in to administration, both in terms of the impact on our customers and the staff employed by the business.

“We have reacted swiftly to the news and have the situation in hand. In the short-term, we plan to use other contractors, as well as our own employees to bridge the service until a longer-term replacement for J Tomlinson is found.

“We have written to all our tenants to reassure them of the next steps for those who have work ongoing in their homes by J Tomlinson’s.

“We will also be contacting tenants who were expecting a gas service within the next few weeks with new appointment dates.

“While it may take us a week or two to establish how the work will be rephased, we ask any tenant with queries about ongoing work that had been started by Tomlinson’s to contact the council on the usual channels.

“Equally the Council is there to signpost and support any local resident who may have lost their job as a result of this unfortunate event.”