Newcastle City Council assessing options after Tolent collapse

Newcastle City Council says it will "assess its options" over prominent building projects left in limbo by the collapse of construction firm Tolent.

The Gateshead-based company went into administration earlier this month with more than 300 jobs lost.

Its projects in Newcastle included the revamp of Central Station and the nearby Pattern Shop, as well as new housing in West Denton.

The council said it would "endeavour to keep disruption to a minimum".

Tolent, based at Team Valley with offices in Shotton Colliery, County Durham, Stockton and Leeds, had been working on developments including the £85.5m Milburngate in Durham, which administrators called "significantly loss-making".

The next phase of the Central Station project in Newcastle is set to include two new entrances and the building of a new concourse, while the Pattern Shop, once part of Robert Stephenson's steam locomotive works, is to become an office space.

A council spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme: "Tolent is a respected long-standing local construction company that has provided employment opportunities for people in the region since its creation in the 1980s.

"We are very saddened to hear that it has gone into administration and appreciate this will be a very worrying time for staff who have lost their jobs.

"As a client of Tolent with a number of contracts we are working closely with their administrators to find a way forward which is in the best interests of the city. The council will assess its options and endeavour to keep any disruption to a minimum."

It was announced earlier this week Sunderland-based Brims Construction was stepping in to save about half of the lost Tolent jobs by taking on its Teesside operations, while regeneration specialist RE:GEN Group has appointed 33 staff made redundant by the firm.

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