Breaking news: North electrical firm falls into administration

Sep 26 2008 By Andrew Mernin

ELECTRICAL and instrumentation contractor Watson Norie  - which has been in operation for over 70 years - has fallen into administration.

The company, which employs around 300 people across its Walker head office and additional sites in Scunthorpe and Grangemouth, is now in the hands of joint administrators Ian Green and Mark Loftus of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

The company was formed in 1920, with an annual turnover in the region of £28m.

It had been in negotiations with an interested party to sell part of the business, however they withdrew yesterday due to the potential costs they might incur under the T.U.P.E. regulations.

Mark Loftus, joint administrator and director at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said: "It is clearly disappointing that such a long established company and a well known name in the industry has been placed into insolvency proceedings, particularly for the employees. We are very keen to hear from anyone who may be interested in purchasing the business in whole or in part."

See The Journal tomorrow for more on this story.