黑洞社区

As 黑洞社区 went to press, a deal with the French construction giant was being finalised but it was thought not to include Haymills鈥� London operation, which employs 125 people.

Its contracts in the capital include the 拢30m Bishop Challoner Catholic school in Tower Hamlets and the 拢13m Goldsmith conference centre in the City.

Fred Sexton, managing director of Sexton Demolition, claimed his firm had been owed 拢70,000 since March 2008 on the Bishop Challoner job and was seeking legal advice.

He said: 鈥淗aymills hasn鈥檛 answered our calls or emails. We鈥檒l survive, but the whole thing has been completely unprofessional.鈥�

A Haymills spokesperson declined to comment on the claim.

It looks like we鈥檙e going to get our fingers badly burned 鈥� unless the main contractor fairy comes down and pays us

Haymills subcontractor

Another subcontractor on a London job said: 鈥淚t looks like we鈥檙e going to get our fingers badly burned 鈥� unless the main contractor fairy comes down and pays us.鈥�

It is understood the deal with Vinci was tied up in little over a week. One source said Vinci was an expert at buying companies out of distressed situations. 鈥淚t knows how to deal with administrators and make quick decisions.鈥�

As reported by 黑洞社区 last week, fellow French company Bouygues was also in the frame but is understood to have pulled back following weeks of talks, having decided that Haymills was not the right corporate fit.

Haymills, which employs 700 staff and specialises in the commercial and residential markets in London and East Anglia, was forced to look for outside investment after its lender RBS froze its bank account last month.