Wright Homes bought out of administration in £7m deal

GALLIFORD Try, one of the UK’s largest construction groups, has bought Hull-based homebuilder Wright Homes out of administration.

The £7m deal sees Galliford acquire Wright Homes’ five housing sites in Hull and York totalling 147 plots, of which 18 are complete and 63 at an advanced stage of construction.

Value of the completed buildings works is an estimated £6m. The business was taken into administration back in February after it was unable to obtain a restructuring agreement with its bankers.

Around 35 staff were made redundant including members of the board. In 2007, the firm had celebrated record sales of £34.3m compared to £26.1m the previous year.

Local sites still under developments by the group include Needlers Way, Hull, Brookholme in Beverley and Greenacres, Cottingham.

Greg Fitzgerald, Galliford’s chief executive, said: “The acquisition of Wright Homes provides additional immediate points of sale and landbank that will add to our existing business based in the Lincolnshire and Humber area and extend its geographical reach for the future.

“We will continue to take a highly selective approach to the opportunities that arise to add to our housebuilding business in the current market and to enhance its positioning for the longer term.”

The business will be managed from Galliford’s regional housebuilding office in Grimsby.

Joint administrator was PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hull.