More than 140 staff to lose jobs after Telford building firm Elements Europe goes into administration

Staff at the company, which employs 217 people at its Hadley Castle factory in Telford, were told it was going into administration during a meeting yesterday (Wednesday, June 4).

A total of 141 staff were told they were set to lose their jobs, with some employees retained to run the company on behalf of administrators Interpath in the meantime.

The company has built off-site room modules and bathroom pods for use in residential developments, student accommodation, and hotels across the UK since 2005, describing itself in publicity materials as a "leading UK supplier of offsite building solutions and one of the biggest UK bathroom pod manufacturers".

The company was bought out in 2020 by Korean building firm GS Engineering & Construction Corporation, who had overseen a move from sub-contracting to becoming main contractors on two large construction projects in Birmingham and London in 2021.

But according to the firm's newly-appointed administrators, the two projects had incurred significant losses - leaving the cash-strapped company on the brink of insolvency.

Efforts to sell and refinance the company in recent weeks have proved unsuccessful, with directors saying it was clear that a "solvent outcome was not possible" before placing the firm into administration this week.

Sam Birchall and Steve Absolom from Interpath Advisory were appointed joint administrators of Elements Europe Limited on Wednesday.

A statement from the joint administrators issued today confirmed that 76 employees had been kept on to help keep the firm running on behalf of the administrators.

Sam Birchall, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator, said: “Sadly Elements Europe has not been immune to the headwinds facing the construction sector. Our intention is to pause work on the ongoing contracts at East Road and Camp Hill whilst we explore options to rescue all or parts of the Elements business.

“As a priority, we will be providing support to those employees who have been impacted by redundancy. We are also seeking buyers for the company’s assets, and would invite interested parties to make contact with us as soon as possible.”