More gloom for piling contractors as Simplex axes precast factory

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Another piling contractor was this week scaling back its operations in the face of  the oncoming  construction downturn.

 Simplex Foundations, which employs 100 people and has a turnover of £19M, is understood to have closed its precast concrete pile factory.

The news comes after the revellation that piling specialist Roger Bullivant was consulting its staff on redundancies while contractor Piling Solutions had gone into administration (News last week).

More bad news emerged from the north and north-west, where cost consultant Walker Sime claimed that developers in Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool were having trouble financing their projects.

"Developers dependent on bank funding are finding it difficult if not impossible to secure funds," said Walker Sime consultant Matthew Newton.

"Redundancies are expected throughout the industry – consultants, contractors, developers, right down the supply chain."

The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) confirmed the bleak outlook.

Its Purchasing Managers' Index which gives a snapshot of confidence in the manufacturing industry fell to 38.8 from 43.9 the previous month.
This was the sharpest decline since the survey first started a decade ago.