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Landlords turn to in-house staff and other firms after latest contractor insolvency
Social landlords are using in-house staff and turning to other contractors after a Nottingham-based contractor became the latest firm to go into administration this week.
In a statement on Monday, Mark Davis, chief executive of J Tomlinson, said he was announcing with a “heavy heart” that the firm would be filing a notice of intention to enter into administration after failing to find new investment.
Around 400 staff are set to be made redundant. Mr Davis said the board “worked tirelessly” to attract additional overall finance, but was “unsuccessful”.
J Tomlinson has been in business since the 1950s. Its latest accounts up to September 2021 showed a turnover of £106m and operating loss of £616,000.
The firm provides a range of services throughout the Midlands and the North, including heat pump installation, refurbishment, repairs and maintenance, capital and planned improvement works, and new build.
The contractor has several social landlord clients, including Platform Housing Group, Riverside, Together Housing, Ashfield District Council and Norwich City Council.
Riverside, which has been a client of J Tomlinson since 2017, currently has a four-year contract with the firm for upgrades to kitchens, bathrooms, windows and doors.
However, Riverside said the closure will have “minimal impact”.
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A spokesperson said: “We are very sorry to hear that J Tomlinson is expected to cease trading. This has had a minimal impact on Riverside.
“The small number of outstanding works have been picked up by our in-house team and we are confident it will not have any major impact on our planned investment programme.”
The spokesperson said Riverside has been supporting some of the local J Tomlinson employees affected and “made introductions where we can to help them find future employment”.
J Tomlinson and Ashfield District Council re-entered a five-year housing refurbishment contract in 2021.
Paul Parkinson, director of housing and assets at the council, said the local authority was “saddened that one of its longest-standing partners” has gone into administration, “both in terms of the impact on our customers and the staff employed by the business”.
He added: “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.”
The council has also written to all its tenants to reassure them of the next steps for those who have work ongoing in their homes by the firm.
Together Housing Group (THG) is using other contractors to bridge the gap. In May this year, J Tomlinson announced that it was continuing its long-term partnership with THG after securing a one-year extension to deliver kitchen and bathroom upgrades across Wakefield.
Helen Gibson, assistant director of property at THG, said: “THG holds contracts for whole house works, including new bathrooms and kitchens, with J Tomlinson and are saddened to learn that the company has ceased trading with the consequent impact on local suppliers and employees.
“Since THG were notified of the administration on Monday 10 July 2023, a recovery plan has been put in place, with customer contact commencing on the same day.
“The THG team are prioritising ongoing works for programmes where J Tomlinson were on site, and providing immediate practical assistance where needed.
“As part of resuming planned investment works with minimal disruption to customers, THG has commissioned other established contractors within our procurement framework to continue the programme.”
It will also be contacting tenants who were expecting a gas service within the next few weeks with new appointment dates.
J Tomlinson’s four-year contract with Platform to install kitchens, bathrooms and wet rooms started in 2022.
Dennis Evans, executive director of property management at Platform, told Inside Housing that it is assessing what it needs to do from here.
“We’re sorry to hear that our contractor has had to make this tough decision. We were made aware of the situation and are already assessing what work is required to limit any disruption this may cause to our repairs and maintenance programme,” he said.
Mr Evans added that Platform will strive to make sure there is “as little impact on our customers in the affected areas as possible”.
In comments widely reported in other media outlets, J Tomlinson’s Mr Davis said: “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, their business and their employees.
“We have employees with 30 years’ time invested and customers lasting 15 to 20 years, which is incredible and tragic.”
Mr Davis named FRP Advisory as administrator.
Raj Mittal, partner at 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 that 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.”
