MOLSON Group Limited (MGL) and its UK subsidiaries have entered administration following ‘challenging’ trading conditions, with 203 employees immediately being made redundant.
Ross Connock, Tom Crookham and Vesela Romagnoli of PwC have been appointed joint administrators of the construction equipment group as well as Molson Scotland, Molson Equipment Services Limited, Capital Equipment Finance Limited, and Aggregate Processing Solutions Ltd.
Headquartered in Bristol, Molson was founded in 1996 and employs 345 people in the UK.
On appointment, the joint administrators completed the sale of MGL’s shares in its US businesses to a newly incorporated company, Fieldsec Hastings Limited. The transaction will enable the US operations, which trade through the Powerscreen regional dealership network, to continue outside the UK group. A small number of UK employees will transfer to the buyer together with all the US employees.
The administrators revealed that operations in the UK have faced challenging trading conditions, with weaker demand in the UK construction market contributing to ‘increasing liquidity pressures’.
Several options were explored to secure the future of the business, including a potential sale of the UK trade and assets, but no interested parties were able to complete a transaction within the required timeframe.
The joint administrators added that they will undertake an orderly wind-down of the UK businesses, working with a number of retained employees to realise the companies’ stock and debtor balances. 203 people have been made redundant immediately. The joint administrators said it will support affected employees in making claims to the Redundancy Payments Service.
Ross Connock, joint administrator and director at PwC, said, “It is regrettable that Molson Group’s UK businesses have entered administration and that this has resulted in a significant number of redundancies. We recognise how difficult this will be for those affected and their families.
“Our immediate priority is to support affected employees through the redundancy process, while working with other stakeholders to undertake an orderly wind-down of the UK businesses and maximise value from the companies’ assets. The sale of the US businesses means those operations can continue outside the UK Group, preserving the business and employment there.”
