Architects goes into administration

THE northern arm of architectural practice careyjones chapmantolcher has been placed into administration.

The practice, which split its business into two separate firms in the north and south 18 months ago, said that the London office in Bloomsbury Square is unaffected by the move.

However, administrators from accountancy firm Armstrong Watson have subsequently been appointed to its Studio North business, which had offices in Manchester and Leeds. One of its successful recent projects is the Granary Wharf scheme (pictured).

Joint administrator Mike Kienlen said: “Unfortunately, the northern company has suffered particularly badly from the poor financial conditions in the property market which have delayed the start of many of its projects. Rather than waiting for cash flow problems to escalate, the management has taken decisive action in order to protect as many of its creditors as possible.”

The administrators added that some 31 staff have been made redundant following their appointment – 30 from the firm’s Leeds office and one from Manchester.

Former director Chris Jones and the firm’s other shareholders have started a new business known as Leeds Studio. However, he said the firm hadn’t yet decided whether to maintain a presence in Manchester.

Mr Jones said: “Regrettably, we felt we had to take the decision, with our advisers, to place the existing northern operational company into administration in response to the greatly reduced workload.

“I am pleased to announce that the group shareholders have agreed to invest in a new business which will be called ‘leeds studio’. We are delighted to say that our clients who we have worked with personally for many years, have been incredibly supportive and we look forward to working with them for many years to come.

“We are in the process of assessing our future workload with our clients and building our team accordingly.”

Leeds Studio was advised on the restructuring by law firm Clarion.