Construction firm goes bust leaving hundreds of North Derbyshire homes to build

Council top brass have been left searching for new contractors to complete hundreds of homes after Robert Woodhead Ltd, suddenly announced it was to cease trading.

The firm was contracted to build nearly 200 homes for North East Derbyshire District Council (NEDDC) at the Oak Fields development, Tupton, as well as up to 400 homes for Bolsover District Council (BDC) as part of the Bolsover Homes scheme.

The family firm, which was the construction arm of the wider Woodhead Group, was also linked to Chesterfield Borough Council (CBC), claiming to be the authority’s ‘main contractor’ on its website.

NEDDC formed Northwood Group Ltd with Woodhead Regeneration Ltd, a separate company within the Woodhead Group, and contributed half the funds towards the project in Ankerbold Road via a loan.

Leader Councillor Alex Dale and director of growth and assets Matt Broughton remain directors of Northwood alongside Leo Robert Woodhead and Christopher Simon Tutin, but the authority maintains the Oak Field’s development has not be jeopardised by the contractor’s failure.

A NEDDC spokesperson explained: “Robert Woodhead Ltd was the lead contractor building the Ankerbold Road development, Oak Fields.

“It is the council’s joint venture company, Northwood, who are the developer of the site and work is ongoing to understand the full impact on the project and supply chain, before engaging another lead contractor to progress the scheme further.

“Robert Woodhead Ltd are not involved in any other council projects or developments.

“The council finances its joint venture development by way of a loan, secured against the asset however, as Robert Woodhead Ltd was simply the lead contractor, this doesn’t impact the loan arrangements.”

Oak Fields is in the early stages of construction and several plots have already been reserved, however the authority assured interested parties that construction would continue as planned once a new contractor was identified.

Similarly, Bolsover leader Councillor Steve Fritchley and executive director of strategy and development Grant Galloway are listed as company directors of Dragonfly Developments Ltd alongside Leo Robert Woodhead and Christopher Simon Tutin.

BDC made a loan to the company in August, which it confirmed was for the purpose of ‘development projects’, but claims the money has not been spent and remains protected.

Council leadership has been quick to take control of the Bolsover Homes scheme, employing existing site managers where appropriate and taking on sub-contractors to complete what Woodhead started.

Woodhead Construction signed a four-year deal with Bolsover District Council to construct up to 400 homes as part of the multi-million pound Bolsover Homes scheme.

In order to save the scheme, which includes sites at Langwith and Shirebrook, as well as a new heritage and wellbeing centre in Creswell, the council has chosen to take over a number of building contracts.

Leader Councillor Steve Fritchley said: “The key thing for me was to keep our building program going to ensure we deliver what we said we would.

“We have therefore employed the current site managers where appropriate and are talking to the sub-contractors to ensure they are fully engaged to make sure the projects continue.

“Once we learned the contractor was to cease trading we took swift and decisive action to ensure our assets were protected and we could continue to deliver what we had set out to do.

“I am a big believer in the council being in control of its own destiny so we are putting into place plans to ensure we have more control of our future residential and commercial projects.”

At the end of July this year, Woodhead Construction announced it was celebrating the two-year half-way point of its Bolsover Homes contract, having built only 37 homes, with 89 in construction or under contract.

A spokesman for the council has confirmed these numbers are still correct, explaining that the building project had been delayed because of the pandemic.

They said the remaining 200 or so homes were currently still in the design or planning stage and being worked on by officers.

The spokesman added: “We have not incurred any financial losses and we have no money tied up with Woodhead Construction.”

Neither NEDDC nor BDC would confirm the amounts of money they provided in loans to Woodhead.

Robert Woodhead Ltd recently completed Chesterfield’s flagship Northern Gateway Enterprise Centre and was due to construct ten homes at Middlecroft on behalf of CBC.

The authority has yet to confirm what effect the news is likely to have on the scheme, financially or otherwise.

Robert Woodhead Ltd is believed to have employed up to 150 people and blamed rising costs for its failure.

The NEDDC spokesperson concluded: “Whilst contractors failing create difficulties for projects like ours, they have significant impact on the lives and livelihood of staff and the supply chain businesses.

“We understand it is a difficult time for all businesses to make ends meet.

“We encourage any businesses who feel they need support at this difficult time to access support and advice through www.d2n2growthhub.co.uk.”

The Derbyshire Times has not been able to reach the Woodhead Group for comment.