Jobs at risk as drainage firm calls in the administrators
A business which specialises in sewer maintenance and repair has been forced to call in the administrators.
Administrators from restructuring and recovery specialist Leonard Curtis have been appointed to Colus Ltd which has its head office in Highbridge.
The company, headquartered in Somerset, but which also has depots in Rotherham, Leicester and Weston Super Mare and employs around 85 people.
Its clients included JN Bentley, Barhale, Yorkshire Water, WSP, May Gurney, Severn Trent Water, Enviroco and Anglian Water.
The firm, which was founded just over ten years ago, announced in December it was intending to appoint administrators as a result of its mounting debts.
Colus’s latest accounts, made up to the end of August 2022, show the firm owed creditors over £4.2m.
At the time, the company employed 85 people – down from 122 in the previous year.
Last year Irish firm McBreen took a share in the struggling business.
At the time Colus managing director Simon Aylott-Cleaver, said: “The partnership with McBreen will see both companies support each other with its specific innovations in to ‘No Dig’ pipeline rehabilitation and maintenance, there is a synergy between both companies that was clear from the very first meeting and we look forward to developing that further.
“Colus will receive the backing from the McBreen Group to intensify its efforts to increase its market share whilst ensuring that the ideals of quality and safety continue to be utmost in the delivery of all of our work. “
The firm’s issues began in March 2021 when a major contract came to an end and a new one started. The change in circumstances led to a period of financial uncertainty.
