Contractor appointed to work on Blues stand ceases trading
The contractor set to work on Birmingham City’s Tilton and Kop stands has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, and ceased trading.
The Buckingham Group said “rapidly escalating contract losses and a sharp reduction in liquidity” had led to its demise.
It had been appointed by Blues in April, to complete the structural work to enable the lower tiers of the Tilton and Kop stands to reopen this season.
Blues bosses were aiming for the lower tier of the Tilton to open by the end of September and for the Kop to be fully open by the end of November.
The club says it is holding emergency meetings to understand and assess the impact of the news.
In a statement, it said: “It is our new owners stated ambition to ensure this work be completed in a timely manner, and all safety tests successfully passed, so our teams can play in front of 30,000 Blues fans again.
“We want to give you your home back and to give our teams the level of noise and support that only a full St. Andrew’s can deliver. As soon as we have more information we will share it”.
The Buckingham Group, which was also developing Liverpool FC’s £80m Anfield Road extension said: “Very strong delivery and commercial performance across most of the business has been outweighed by deep losses and interim cash deficits incurred on the three major stadium and arena contracts, and a substantial earthworks contract in Coventry.
“This situation on these four long term major projects developed through a combination of unexpected impacts such as the extreme inflation linked to the Ukraine conflict and other challenges in the sports and leisure division.
“Over several months and right up to this week, the board has worked with specialist advisors to seek to bring substantial new investment into the business that would have enabled the company to continue trading as a going concern without interruption. However, this initiative has ultimately met without success.”
Other West Midlands schemes impacted by the news include:
