Latest news with #BeckeryConstruction
BBC News
23-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Life Factory contractors angry over unpaid work 'worth thousands'
Contractors who worked on a £2.89m government-funded renovation project have said it is "disgusting" they have not been paid for all their to create a community space at The Life Factory in Glastonbury paused in 2024 after Somerset Council had concerns about its progress and stopped releasing funds to Red Brick Building Centre, which was responsible for the BBC understands about 15 creditors are awaiting payment, including one who claimed he is owed about £380,000. He described the impact as "catastrophic".Somerset Council said the situation was "regrettable", while the Red Brick Building board said it had been liaising with creditors to "work out what to do". Keith Jackson is director at TML Building Services, which was contracted by Beckery Construction Company (BCC), a subsidiary of Red Brick, to carry out structural works at The Life told the BBC he had not been paid since January 2024 and claims he is owed about £380,000 for work, including removing the floor and roof."We never knew the project was in trouble until a halt was called," he said."Why can't we be paid for the work we've done? Why should we suffer for other people's incompetence?"He said the situation had a "terrible effect" on his company."We haven't got any finances," he explained. "We've got several jobs we could go to, but we don't have the money to go. "We owe other subcontractors a considerable amount of money, but also it's taken our future away." Funding to develop the community and learning space was awarded to Red Brick Building Centre, a social enterprise, under the Glastonbury Town West Audit Partnership (Swap) is looking into what went wrong. In a report, it said it had "no assurance" sound governance or financial controls were in place at Red Brick Building or Somerset also found "no evidence" of a plan to deliver the project "within budget, scope and on time".The report said BCC was set up to keep costs down, but confused the relationship between parties which lead to a communication breakdown, poor governance and a lack of also found standard HR procedures were not followed at BCC, including around sub-contractor recruitment and timesheet records. 'Huge strain' J&E Construction SouthWest was also contracted by BCC to renew the internal floors and roof structure of The Life director Tom Popham claimed he is owed a significant sum in unpaid invoices. He said the situation put a "huge strain" on him, but a loyal client base and his other business meant he was able to pay his contractors and suppliers. However, he said the company is now facing "slow growth"."We haven't got the money in the bank that we used to," he added. He described the council's decision not to release more funds as "disgusting". "I have lost all faith in Somerset Council," he said."I do think they [the council] should settle up if we can prove what we've done." Somerset Council said: "It is deeply regrettable this is having an impact on local contractors with legitimate claims, but we are not contractually responsible for any payments to them."It added the Swap report confirmed the council's concerns about the project and made it "clear" it "cannot release further payments".In a previous statement the council's chief executive Duncan Sharkey said the authority accepted its monitoring of the project "could have been strengthened". A new board started operating at Red Brick at the end of 2023 and its chair Indra Donfrancesco said it is "heartbreaking" contractors have not been paid."There hasn't been a day in this last year where we haven't been trying to work out with them what to do," she added."It is absolutely devastating on every level."A statement from the new Red Brick board said the previous leadership set up BCC in 2022 to manage the scheme and appointed a full-time project manager. It claimed there were "serious" procedural and reporting "failures" and said: "In hindsight, both Red Brick and Somerset Council lacked the capacity to provide proper oversight".Ms Donfrancesco said the previous Red Brick board should have had more of a "financial forecast" of where money was going, what the project would look like and the contractors involved. John Capper, one of two former directors of BCC, said in a statement that Red Brick's board signed the funding agreement and so responsibility lies with said the project manager, who was also a BCC director and full-time employee of Red Brick, was "managerially responsible" for the project's delivery and the "reporting and adherence" to procedures."He reported on a regular basis to the Red Brick board as overseers of the project," Mr Capper said that, during his time as a director, "no concerns" were raised by the council or Red Brick board regarding the issues in the Swap report."However, I did raise my own concerns with the Red Brick board and the Somerset Council officer, which is the reason why I left," he Poizer, the other BCC director and the project manager, declined to comment until the audit process is complete. What now? Ms Donfrancesco said the new board will work with the council to try to find a way to satisfy the funding agreement."Should an alternative viable plan for regenerating the derelict building come to fruition over the coming months, the remaining funds could still be released," she audit work continues. A Swap report found a considerable sum is due to be paid to contractors and creditors, but said the amount was unconfirmed as some costs could be ineligible and some invoices are in a recent council meeting, auditors described the work as complex and could not give a timeline as to when it will be complete.
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Life Factory project: 'No more funds' after damning report
"No further funds" will be given by a council to a youth regeneration project after serious concerns were raised about leaders' financial Council froze funds to Glastonbury's Life Factory in January 2024, after bosses said they were not "able to adequately reconcile invoices" in grant claims with actual spend and progress on new leadership team at Red Brick Building Centre, which runs the site, said its "deeply disappointed" with an independent audit's findings, which highlighted a lack of accountability.A council spokesperson said the authority accepts that its level of oversight and monitoring "could have been strengthened". The report also warned the government could request its £2.89m back if officials decide the "terms of the grant have not been met".After the grant was halted in January, construction work stopped on site and several contractors were left workers told the BBC that they are owed tens of thousands of pounds. The Red Brick Building C project was previously awarded £2.89m from the government under the Glastonbury Town Deal (GTD) to develop a community space, mainly for young people. Spending of this money was being overseen by Somerset a South West Audit Partnership (SWAP) report has now concluded that it has "no assurance" that there were sound governance arrangements and financial controls in place at Red Brick Building Centre Ltd or Somerset regards to the Red Brick Building Centre, the report states: "We have seen no evidence of a delivery plan showing how the building will be delivered within budget, scope and on time."It said a condition of the grant funding was that match funding would be obtained, but this had not gone beyond gathering expressions of interest. 'Lack of accountability' The report explains that a subsidiary company called Beckery Construction was set up to keep costs down, but said the introduction of this company confused the relationship between all parties, leading to a breakdown in communication, poor governance and lack of report said: "The majority of control weaknesses in delivery lie with The Red Brick Building and Beckery Construction Company."At Beckery Construction, auditors found many standard HR processes were not followed, including no formal recruitment being in place sub-contractors, one employee didn't have a contract and timesheets were either incorrectly submitted or filled out at report said: "Financial controls such as budget monitoring and cash flow forecasting were not operating, no approval for expenditure was sought from the Red Brick building board, and financial records were not always accessible, complete or accurate".With regards to the council, the auditors said: "Grant payments were not processed in line with the Grant Funding Agreement."Given the complexity of the renovation of Building C and the values involved more assurances should have been sought by [them] that robust governance and oversight arrangements were in place and a competent and qualified project team were in place."The report pointed out that the government may now ask for its money back, if it feels that the terms of its grant have not been met. 'Deeply disappointed' In a statement posted on social media, the new leadership team at Red Brick report makes it clear this "was a collective failure" across all parties."While we deeply regret that the Life Factory will no longer be able to continue in its original form, we remain committed to learning from this experience and ensuring it is never repeated," they said.A former director of Beckery Construction and ex-member of the Red Brick board said the SWAP report "does not fully reflect the complexity, the good intentions, the actions taken, and the repeated efforts to gain clarity on the financial situation".It added that council representatives had frequent meetings with the project while the ex-director of Beckery was in post, he said the financial accounts for Life Factory were externally audited with "no serious concerns raised". Somerset Council has released a statement saying "no further funds" will be released to the council said the audit has made clear that despite almost £3m being spent on the Life Factory, "it cannot be successfully delivered in line with the Grant Funding Agreement, and it is therefore not clear if the project will ever be completed".Duncan Sharkey, the council's chief executive, said the authority "accepts the [report's] findings that our level of oversight and monitoring could have been strengthened".As a result, the council's management of other infrastructure projects have been reviewed. What happens now? The council said it is "not contractually responsible for any payments to contractors", but adds it does "understand the impact this is having on those with legitimate claims".Council bosses said they would continue to work with the Red Brick Building.A spokesperson for Red Brick Building Centre said they have "always had the community at the heart of this project and is the reason we took this project on"."And for these reasons, we called it into question and put a pause on the project at the beginning of 2024. "We are working very closely with Somerset Council to find a way through this, and our shareholder and creditors are our top priority," they council's audit committee will discuss the report at its meeting on Thursday.
