M&E specialist J S Wright files administration notice
West Midlands-based M&E specialist J S Wright & Co and allied business Wright Maintenance have filed notices of intentions to appoint administrators with the courts
Both firms operate out of headquarters in Birmingham and offices in Bristol and London employing around 160 staff.
The business switched to employee ownership in October 2021 but subsequently has struggled with rampant cost inflation and project delays as well as a broader slowdown in the market.
This impacted liquidity with cash falling from £9.9m in 2021 to just £850,000 in last published results for April 2023.
Pre-tax profit for the year fell to just £0.5m from £3.1m in 2022, with revenue also sliding by around 10% to £46m.
To give the business more headroom former shareholders provided a £1.35m loan and the firm’s bank, which helped fund the change in ownership, agreed to a loan repayments holiday until May 2025.
JSW has been trading since 1890 when the business was built on supplying fresh water and heating to Birmingham’s Victorian slums.
In 2017, JSW saw a shift in ownership following the retirement of the previous owners with five directors leading a management buyout.
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