黑洞社区

The administrator of Rowecord has said he is 鈥渘ot optimistic鈥� about finding a buyer for the remaining operational parts of the steel specialist, which went into administration on Monday.

Alistair Wardell, senior partner at Grant Thornton, who is leading the administration of the 拢68m turnover Welsh specialist, told 黑洞社区 there was a prospect of salvaging parts of the construction and building business as a 鈥済oing concern鈥�.

However he said that the circumstances of the administration meant he was 鈥渘ot overly optimistic about finding a buyer鈥�.

Wardell declined to say exactly which part of the business he was still looking to sell.

Grant Thornton has already laid off 424 employees at the firm, leaving 83 on the books to finish off select jobs where possible.

Wardell said: 鈥淲here possible we will meet our obligations, we will negotiate with customers on a case by case basis, some we will finish off, some we won鈥檛. Clearly it is a much reduced business.鈥�

A spokesman for Tata Steel denied that a dispute over delays on its 拢185m Blast Furnace project in Port Talbot was responsible for putting 46 year-old Rowecord into administration. The project was delivered three months behind schedule.

He said: 鈥淲e settled our account with Rowecord in February to the satisfaction of both parties, and the company is still engaged with  ongoing work for Tata.鈥�

Rowecord built the roof of the Zaha Hadid-designed Olympic Aquatic Centre (pictured) as well as the stadiums for Cardiff City Football club and the Llanelli Rugby Club.

It is currently working on major projects at the Dover Docks and the British Museum.

In calling in administrators, Rowecord managing director Andrew Hoppe said the company had 鈥渆xhausted every option to sustain the business for the future鈥�.

Rowecord turned over 拢68.2m in its last full financial year to 30 June 2012 and made a pre-tax profit of 拢3.2m.

These results were an improvement on the previous year, when it posted revenue of 拢40m and a pre-tax loss of 拢4.7m.

Welsh business minister Edwina Hart said this week that the company turned down a government offer of assistance 鈥渂ecause of their worsening financial and competitive position鈥�.

In a statement to Welsh assembly on Tuesday (30 April),Hart said the company was trying to protect other parts of the group.

鈥淐learly, we were offering a short to medium term remedy to the company鈥檚 management. In the longer term a full recovery lies with a significant improvement in market conditions,鈥� she said.

The firm was founded in 1967 and also worked on the Lawn Tennis Academy in Roehampton and scores of major bridges.