More than 80 jobs lost as Scots firm appoints liquidators
Andrew Wright Windows Ltd and Andrew Wright Glass Ltd, based in Irvine, were acquired by the current directors from the original founders in August 2023.
The firm, which provides windows and doors for social housing, local authorities, domestic and commercial construction, and private and residential customers, first began trading in 1937.
In total, 83 employees have been made redundant, 65 of whom worked at Andrew Wright Windows Limited and 18 at Andrew Wright Glass Limited.
Mark Harper and Paul Dounis from Opus Restructuring & Insolvency were appointed joint provisional liquidators at the firm on Wednesday.
A 'significant' slowdown in the construction industry in 2023/24 had a detrimental impact on sales, reducing turnover by approximately 35% for Andrew Wright Windows and 60% for Andrew Wright Glass.
The liquidators said both companies experienced 'significant cashflow challenges' among other factors such as contract tendering, rising cost of raw materials and increasing staff costs.
Despite 'exhaustive efforts', the directors were said to be left with 'no option' but to cease trading.
Mark Bradford and James Fraser, the company's directors, said: 'This is a profoundly sad moment for all at Andrew Wright.
'Over two years, we have done everything we could to turn the business around, but the challenges have proved insurmountable.
'We are truly sorry for the impact the closure will have on our employees, customers, and the wider community.
'We will work now with Opus to support our employees and stakeholders through the transition.'
Mr Harper, partner of Opus Restructuring & Insolvency and joint provisional liquidator, said: 'The collapse of Andrew Wright Windows Limited and Andrew Wright Glass Limited is another indicator of the challenges and economic headwinds currently facing the Scottish construction sector.
'The directors fought hard to save these long-standing businesses, but the construction industry has experienced several challenges over recent years, and this impacts heavily throughout the supply chain, putting businesses under increased pressure.
'Our priority is to assist those members of staff who have been made redundant, providing them with the information and support they need to claim their statutory entitlements from the Redundancy Payments Office, as well as to support the owners, for whom this is also an extremely difficult time.'
Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
4 hours ago
- The National
Scottish firm in legal trademark row with McDonald's and Napoli
Giorgio Cozzolino has been sent legal letters challenging his bid to trademark the Scottish football ace's 'McFratm' nickname and use it for gin, pizza, coffee, whisky and restaurants, according to the Scottish Sun. The St Andrews businessman claims, however, that it wasn't inspired by McTominay – who was recently nominated for a prestigious Ballon D'Or. The term means 'my brother' in the Naples dialect. READ MORE: 5 communities across Scotland that are boycotting Israel amid Gaza genocide Both McDonald's and Napoli have sent letters to Cozzolino, with the latter also registering it as a trademark for sporting goods, food and stationery. Cozzolino told The Scottish Sun: 'With McTominay playing in Napoli, there is more affinity between Scotland and the Italian city. 'It's a good time to strengthen our connection.' He added: 'I informed Napoli by email after registering my trademark application. "I'm open to discussions. "I'm not intending to fight, but to find a solution.'
Glasgow Times
5 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
McGhee's ranked second most chosen food brand in Scotland
McGhee's, a fourth-generation family bakery, made its first appearance in this category in the 2025 Scotland Brand Footprint rankings by Worldpanel by Numerator, coming in behind Irn Bru. The baker has become increasingly popular beyond its roots in the west of Scotland, with sales of pre-packed rolls growing by 42% in the last six months compared to the same period last year. Read more: Rangers make one change to squad for Viktoria Plzen clash The report, which ranks the most chosen food and drink brands of the past year, highlighted the strong sales of McGhee's soft white rolls and potato scones as major contributors to this growth. Overall, McGhee's was placed 13th among all fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands in Scotland. The bakery was the third most chosen bakery brand, behind Warburtons and Hovis, with a brand penetration of 50.8%. On average, shoppers purchase McGhee's products nearly 11 times a year. McGhee's has been able to triple the volume of its signature roll sales due to recent investments in plant, equipment, and site expansion. The bakery is responsible for supplying a significant share of Scotland's bread rolls, with around half being sold through supermarket retailers and independent convenience stores. Aisling McGhee, commercial director at McGhee's, said: "We are incredibly proud of our Scottish roots and the role we have played in helping to feed Scotland for four generations. "Being included among the most popular Scottish brands – and among the top 20 brands across all categories – is an incredible achievement and testament to the strategy we have put in place in recent years." The bakery is now planning a brand refresh ahead of its 90th anniversary next year, and hopes this will further drive its success. McGhee's customer favourites, including empire biscuits, caramel shortcake, assorted tarts, and pineapple and raspberry tarts, all continue to have strong demand. The full rankings are based on data collected over 52 weeks ending in October 2024.
The National
7 hours ago
- The National
The tax haven firms given cash by the Scottish Government
Other offshore firms in receipt of public subsidies ditched pledges to create hundreds of jobs, or laid off hundreds of workers just a few years after accepting millions of pounds of taxpayer handouts. This investigation is part of The Ferret's ongoing Money Trail series, in which we are exploring how international wealth flows through Scotland, and how it shapes our politics, public finances, and land and property ownership. Our findings prompted calls from an MSP to give the Scottish Government the means to 'claw back' public funds when firms fail to deliver on promises of jobs and investment. Campaigners and the Scottish Greens want the public funding of tax havens to be banned altogether. READ MORE: 'Absolutely crazy': Scottish jazz artist scores new film by Hollywood director Incorporating a firm offshore does not equate to wrongdoing. But the anonymity afforded to corporate owners in jurisdictions like the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, or the US state of Delaware creates risks of 'corruption and tax abuse', campaigners warned. Transparency International UK argued that companies must be required to reveal their true owners before they are given public money. Scottish Enterprise (SE), the Government's business agency, awards grants and other payments to firms active in Scotland or seeking to set up a base here, incentivising them to invest and create local jobs. The agency's financial support led to more than 9000 Scottish jobs being generated by global companies last year alone, it said. But some subsidised firms collectively promised to create more than 1000 jobs which either failed to materialise, or were cut just years later, while 1150 more are at risk. The Ferret analysed a list of grants, investments and other payments of more than £25,000 that SE made to nearly 2600 companies between January 2020 and December 2024. We identified 18 that were ultimately owned in tax or secrecy havens, and had been given £1m or more in grants by Scottish Enterprise over the investment agency's lifetime. Mangata Networks IN 2022, the Delaware-incorporated satellite maker, Mangata Networks, announced a hub in Prestwick which it claimed would create 575 new jobs. A total of £84m in taxpayer funding was pledged – £54.5m from SE and £29m from the Scottish, UK, and Ayrshire local governments – that was expected to be repaid over 15 years. Files released by the Scottish Government, via a separate FOI request, claim Mangata's boss 'clearly stated' he would only choose Scotland if given 'an incentive package' that exceeded an offer from a rival country. However, Mangata last year scrapped plans to create the jobs, reportedly blaming challenging economic conditions, increased material costs and supply chain issues. Mangata said at the time it would continue its Scottish research and development operations, which were subsidised by a separate SE grant. Mangata has received £4.3m from SE to date. SE stressed that subsidised firms are typically paid in tranches at pre-agreed milestones, and are required to evidence project expenditure before they can claim grant payments. As such Mangata will not receive the full £54.5m originally pledged. LumiraDx IN 2021, SE agreed to provisionally award £15m to LumiraDx – a Cayman Islands-owned health diagnostics firm – to help create 500 to 750 new jobs as part of plans to establish hubs across Scotland. But two years later, the firm had announced 510 redundancies in Clackmannanshire and Stirlingshire. LumiraDx reportedly said it grew its operation to make Covid-19 test kits, and was shrinking back to pre-pandemic levels. LumiraDx, which received £3.6m from SE, is in the process of being liquidated, according to the UK business registry. Spirit AeroSystems SPIRIT AeroSystems, whose parent company is also incorporated in the tax and secrecy haven of Delaware, makes planes and US military aircraft. It opened a hub in Prestwick in 2021, and took nearly £7.9m in SE grants. Then-first minister Nicola Sturgeon making a keynote speech on Scotland's economy at Spirit AeroSystems in Prestwick in 2017First Minister at the time Nicola Sturgeon said then that the facility could create more quality manufacturing jobs. But Airbus is taking over most Prestwick operations from the loss-making Spirit, and promised only to retain the 1150 workers based there in the short-term. Clydeport THE west coast ports, run by Peel Ports and ultimately owned in the Cayman Islands, received £1.1m from SE via their subsidiary companies. A member of Westminster's public accounts committee claimed in 2013 that Peel did 'not pay their fair share of corporation tax' – a claim rejected by the company. READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon 'felt like disappearing into North Sea after arrest', excerpt reveals Its billionaire chair, John Whittaker, who is domiciled in the tax haven of the Isle of Man, was last year accused of leaving Ardrossan port to ruin, while he and other shareholders received nearly £300m in dividends. Port director Jim McSporran told The Ferret his firm invested £68m in Scotland in the last three years, which would 'transform the economic prosperity of the west coast' and create 'thousands of jobs'. THE tech firm was given £1.1m by SE. It was part of Work Tech Group – which is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) – until it demerged from the group in January. The BVI is a renowned tax and secrecy haven and Work Tech's latest UK accounts state that the controlling party of the company is 'not known'. Earlier in July, the BVI and several other UK offshore territories failed to meet the final deadline to introduce publicly accessible beneficial ownership registers designed to deter financial corruption. A spokesperson said Work Tech Group was also registered in the UK, requiring it to disclose the same information as UK companies, and pay corporation tax. Both Work Tech and 'met their tax and reporting obligations', they added. HarperCollins THE publishing firm – founded in Glasgow but owned by News Corporation for decades – received nearly £2m from SE to design and install a robotic management system at its Robroyston warehouse. Rupert Murdoch News Corp, owned by the family of billionaire media baron Rupert Murdoch, is incorporated in Delaware. Calls for tighter rules and 'clawback clause' CAMPAIGNERS and MSPs urged SE to demand more transparency from companies about their ownership and tax affairs before awarding public money to them with conditionality attached to grants. Others challenged the investment arm to stop funding tax haven firms altogether. Tom Brake, a former LibDem MP and director of campaign group Unlock Democracy, highlighted that Holyrood blocked Covid-19 relief funds to tax haven firms after parliament backed a Green amendment to a 2020 bill. 'There is a cast-iron case for adopting this policy comprehensively to stop taxpayers' money from disappearing into companies whose tax affairs are a closed book,' he added. The Greens also called on the Scottish Government to adopt the policy 'on a permanent basis'. Labour MSP Paul Sweeney urged SE to write 'a clawback clause' into contracts to recoup public funds if firms 'fail to deliver' on projects, or later slash their Scottish investments. 'There have been too many cases of public subsidies being awarded to projects undertaken by multinational firms that have failed to create the jobs and economic growth that were promised,' he said. READ MORE: 'F***ing slags': Oasis take aim at Edinburgh Council chiefs in first Murrayfield gig Alex Cobham, chief executive of the Tax Justice Network, stressed that while not all firms using secrecy jurisdictions are 'behaving badly', the lack of transparency creates risks of 'corruption and tax abuse'. Any company receiving public funds should be required to disclose their financial affairs in all the jurisdictions where they operate, he argued. Juliet Swann of Transparency International UK also called for tighter rules. 'Requiring companies registered in tax havens to disclose their true owners as a condition of receiving public funding would dramatically improve due diligence,' she said. 'The public has a right to know who ultimately benefits from their money.' A spokesperson for Scottish Enterprise said: 'Global businesses are attracted to Scotland by its collaborative business support environment, access to a skilled workforce, as well as a range of funding packages to develop new, or grow existing, operations here. Scottish Enterprise's focus is on attracting and working with inward investors to invest and create jobs in Scotland. 'As a direct result of our support last year, global companies choosing to locate here generated more than 9000 jobs in Scotland. 'Corporation tax is a matter reserved to the UK Government and decisions around the location of registered offices are made by individual companies and are based on a wide range of factors.' Every company named in this article was approached for comment.
