BOWEN CONSTRUCTION, once one of the biggest building companies in the State, has gone into liquidation with the loss of at least 76 jobs.
John Bowen, the firm’s owner, expressed “profound sadness” at the end of the company after 43 years of trading.
“I feel desperately sorry for staff, suppliers, subcontractors and all who are affected,” Mr Bowen said last night.
The High Court granted an application for the liquidation of the company yesterday afternoon after cashflow difficulties made it impossible for the firm to continue trading. John McStay of McStay Luby was appointed as the liquidator to the company.
Bowen, a Cork-based firm, had been in refinancing talks with State assets agency Nama, with which it was finalising a business plan. The contracting company was involved in several high-profile projects, including the Cork Airport Business Park, the Luas extension to Cherrywood, Co Dublin, and the final section of the M7 motorway. It operated about 16 sites in Ireland.
This month the insolvent British subsidiary of Bowen Construction came under the control of court-appointed administrators from the specialist insolvency firm Zolfo Cooper.
The London subsidiary suspended its operations and laid off staff two months ago after it was unable to meet its liabilities to suppliers and other creditors.
The most recent accounts filed at the Companies Office for Bowen Construction Ltd show that it made a pretax profit of €4.3 million in 2009, down from €7.7 million in 2008. At this point it had shareholders’ funds of €26.5 million and bank debt of €13.5 million. Turnover in 2009 arrived at €140 million.
The company is 70 per cent controlled by Mr Bowen, with the other shareholding held by Barry Crowley, according to its 2009 accounts. At the peak of the market in 2007 it employed more than 300 people but staff numbers had decreased sharply in recent years.
The company had 76 direct employees. A number of other jobs at suppliers and subcontractors may now be at risk.
First established in 1968, Bowen grew to become one of the largest building and civil engineering contractors in the State with offices in Cork, Dublin, Belfast, Limerick and Waterford. Its clients included State agencies and companies such as the ESB, as well as local authorities and private sector organisations.
Martin Whelan, director of communications at the Construction Industry Federation, said the liquidation of another long-standing building firm was “a severe blow” and further evidence of both the deepening crisis in construction and the need for an urgent Government response to prevent the total loss of employment and skills in the sector.
The news “underlines the urgency” attached to the implementation of legislation protecting contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers in the construction supply chain.
“Suppliers and subcontractors now face a very uncertain future,” Mr Whelan said, adding that construction employment in Ireland was now half the European average.
He called on the Government to support the industry by ringfencing existing funding for infrastructure projects under the capital investment programme.
