Rok fall: The final cost to construction

Grant Prior 14 years ago
Share

The full financial fall-out of from the collapse of Rok can now be revealed by the Enquirer as administrator PwC finalises the winding-up of the failed contractor.

The company was turning over £600m a year and at one time was valued at more than £450m by the Stock Exchange.

But PwC has only been able to raise £7m from Mansell for the company’s assets as a host of interested contractors pulled-out of prospective deals once they saw the state of Rok’s books.

Trade contractors, suppliers and workers are the biggest losers. Here’s how the demise of Rok has hit the industry:

Subcontractors and Suppliers

The Enquirer understands that the trade debt could be as high as £200m.

Trade contractors owed money by Rok are unlikely to see a penny after PwC raised only £7m from buyers.

The firm’s latest accounts show £200m was outstanding to “trade and other payables.”

Workers

Just 381 jobs were saved by the Mansell deal as PwC let 3,200 Rok staff go. Site workers have complained about unpaid wages while staff were also unhappy about being made redundant by text messages or conference calls.

Shareholders

Rok was once a darling of the City as its share price climbed to 250p. At the time of its failure that price had fallen to 18.5p

All shareholders’ money has been wiped-out with major stockholders including:

Lloyds Banking Group – 9.9m shares

BT Pension Scheme – 4.9m shares

Standard Life Investments – 850,00 shares

Banks

Rok had £80m outstanding in bank loans according to its last accounts.

Directors

Former staff will find it difficult to sympathise with the management team which led them into disaster.

But the directors had a fortune tied-up in shares and options which are now worthless.

The figures below show the value of each directors’ share and options holding at the time of Rok’s peak share price of 250p

Garvis Snook, chief executive – £4.9m

Rob Olorenshaw, chief operating officer – £2.1m

Steve Carden, managing director (construction) – £890,000

Martin Donachie, managing director (maintenance and build) – £1m

Claire Hamon, chief information officer – £1.1m

Julian Turnbull, company secretary- £1.5m

Latest news

Planning officers to get powers to bypass committee stage for housing

Rayner reform plan to cut out local council planning committees
2 hours ago

National Insurance hike to delay construction recovery

Arcadis paints varied picture with full recovery delayed until 2026
7 hours ago

Gratte Bros rides out cost rises with profit increase

M&E specialist warns of further upward pressure on wage costs
7 hours ago

Sellar’s 36-storey London City office tower approved

Demolition work to start in 2026 at 60 Gracechurch Street site
2 days ago

Roofers caught using phone lights to work at night

Roofing boss handed suspended prison sentence for lack of edge protection
8 hours ago

£380m North West housing framework out for bid

St Helens-based Torus aims to build 9,000 homes by 2029
8 hours ago

Historic property magazine to close

Estates Gazette has been in business since 1858
3 days ago

M&S Marble Arch rebuild approved after three-year planning fight

Plans were delayed when Michael Gove backed carbon campaigners
4 days ago

£191m revamp funding approved for London Barbican Centre

Construction to start in 2027 on five-year programme
4 days ago

RED Construction tops £100m turnover

Builder maintains profit margin at 1.7% as business nearly doubles in size
3 days ago

Timber designs shortlisted for roads ‘footbridge of the future’

Three of five designs for National Highways propose timber structures over busy highways
3 days ago

PM pledges to fast-track 150 infrastructure schemes

Fresh promise to speed up planning decisions on infrastructure and house building
4 days ago

Amey FM firm fined after legionella kills prisoner

Court fines company £600,000 for prison upkeep failures
3 days ago

Buyers report boom in commercial work

Construction bucks slowdown in general economy
4 days ago

Plans in for £250m Stockport 8 housing-led scheme

Work to start on phase 1 by the end of next year
4 days ago

Galliford Try tops monthly contracts league

Contract awards slow down in November
4 days ago

Erith explosives set demolition record at Sizewell

Watch blast at former nuclear turbine hall: Video
4 days ago

Vistry to build 950 homes next to Olympic Park

Developer signed for £600m Pudding Mill Lane scheme in East London
4 days ago

Inflatable formwork used for 45m tall cement silo

Ground-breaking dome silo inflated at Tilbury Docks
4 days ago

Briggs & Forrester sells maintenance arm

100 engineers to move over to new owner
5 days ago

£2bn Edinburgh ‘West Town’ scheme approved

7,000 homes to be built at 205-acre site
5 days ago

Rayner approves Lancashire super prison

Communities secretary overrules planning inspector for 1,700 inmate prison.
5 days ago

Wates boss returns after collapse of his own contractor

Paul Nicholls was head of the failed Real construction group
6 days ago

Trio secure Birmingham deal to retrofit 3,000 homes a year

Specialist contractors to install insulation, efficient heating and solar panels
5 days ago

Costain confirms £400m HS2 tunnels win

Work to start early next year on tunnel and lineside mechanical and electrical systems
5 days ago

First nuclear reactor installed at Hinkley: Video

Watch precision operation at Somerset site
5 days ago

Winner named for Harbourside revamp

Local Irvine contractor to start transformation of beach front
5 days ago

New Fair Payment Code goes live today

Latest bid to get subcontractors and suppliers paid within 30 days
6 days ago

Lincolnshire concrete supplier files administration notice

Ever Readymix Concrete & Screed operates three depots and a fleet of 20 trucks
6 days ago

Graham lands first deal on Liverpool’s largest brownfield site

Contractor bags infrastructure package on 10.5 hectare site
1 week ago

Contractor services