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Brexit conversations are still very much dragging on. The UK economy ended 2018 stuck in a weak holding pattern, with stagnating levels of growth and business confidence, as a result of heightened Brexit uncertainty and other economic pressures. In the services sector, a key driver of UK economic growth, the percentage of firms reporting an increase in domestic sales and orders weakened to their lowest level in two years. Summarised below is a timeline of insolvencies over the last few weeks, as well as relevant information to sectors we see as high risk for 2019. Recent Insolvencies • 3/1/19 Scottish M&E contractor Richard Irvin & Sons, with a turnover of £45million has gone into administration owing £17.4m to suppliers. • 2/1/19 Shares in Debenhams plunged amid fears of poor trading over the festive period. • 31/12/18 HMV enters into administration for the second time in six years. • 21/12/18 Suppliers to failed Suffolk fit-out and drylining contractor Radford Group Limited are owed more than £5m. • 21/12/18 Apple Panels Ltd enters into liquidation. The company, which had an annual turnover of about £11m, experienced significant cash flow difficulties, leaving it unable to pay employees, sub- contractors and trade creditors. • 19/12/18 Building services specialist Proline Group has gone into administration after being left with a raft of unpaid bills by collapsed contractor Herbert T Forrest. Proline was owed more than £1.5m for work carried out on Forrest sites. One of Gloucestershire’s longest established and most successful independent insurance brokers, Brundson Insurance Brokers is led by managing director, Neville
Mills, who is now in his 27th year and is holding breath for the outlook for 2019. Construction
He said: “Business leaders working in construction and property have set out their predictions for 2019, with the uncertainty on Brexit weighing heavily on many minds. Companies are understandably holding back on spending and making big decisions about their futures. Neville Mills
“Construction as an industry needs to change to make itself more sustainable, with improved margins in the wake of the collapse of Carillion. It's still a very challenging market to operate in. Prices are quite tight, customers don't want to pay more, and there's still quite a lot of pressure from the supply chain, there are still skills shortages, so labour costs are rising. And then there's pressure on the supply chain side. The likes of Carillion, and now the difficulties we're hearing around Interserve; it kind of shows that contracting has become a bit of an unsustainable model in its current state. Additionally, a huge amount of construction materials are imported from mainland Europe and any trade tariffs will put construction costs up. This could
36 | February 2019 | www. punchline-gloucester .com
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