135 job losses as Scots contractor enters administration

LAND Engineering (Scotland) has gone into administration, resulting in 135 employees being made redundant with immediate effect.

Administrators said the landscaping and civil engineering firm, which has a head office in Glasgow and several site offices throughout Scotland, had found the market becoming “increasingly competitive”, which had affected profitability.

Part of the company’s business and assets have been sold to idverde Limited for an undisclosed sum. 249 employees have also transferred to idverde, who have snapped up the services, responsive and winter divisions and the company’s interest in contracts at Grangemouth, Craighouse and Quartermile.

Colin Dempster and Andrew Davison of EY’s restructuring team have been appointed joint administrators.

Andrew Davison said, “The market has become increasingly competitive for the company and has impacted on its profitability, particularly in relation to the company’s construction business. Various options have been explored by the directors to address these challenges. Unfortunately none of these options were ultimately successful and the directors therefore took the decision to appoint administrators to help safeguard elements of the business. This has been achieved through the sale we have completed to idverde.

“While it has been possible to save more than 60 per cent of the total jobs through this sale, it is with regret that redundancies had to be made in relation to the remainder of the company’s business. We are doing all that we can to assist these members of staff to make their relevant claims and are providing them with access to impartial advice to help them face the future.”