UK construction company enters administration putting 400 jobs at risk | UK | News

Hundreds of jobs have been put at risk after a construction firm was placed into administration. Administrators PKF Littlejohn Advisory are overseeing Caldwell Construction Limited, which had a turnover of around £58 million in the year to March 2025, but reported an operating profit of £936,437.

More than 400 people are employed by the groundworks and civil engineering firm, which has a head office in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, as well as a site in Warrington. Paul Smith, a partner at PKF Littlejohn Advisory, said: “The construction sector has faced challenging trading conditions over recent years, including increasing costs, delays to schemes and wider market uncertainty. These pressures were exacerbated at Caldwell in recent weeks, placing significant strain on cashflow and operations.”

Mr Smith added PKF Littlejohn Advisory had “worked closely with Caldwell’s management over the past few months to explore all available options and potential solutions for the business”.

He continued: “Unfortunately, despite extensive efforts, it was not possible to secure a way forward that would allow the company to continue trading outside of an insolvency process.”

Caldwell Construction was incorporated in 2007 and provides groundworks services for several national housebuilders.

According to the latest S&P Global UK construction purchasing managers’ index (PMI) published earlier this month, UK housebuilding activity has remained in its deepest slump since the start of the pandemic, while the wider construction sector has been in contraction for a year.

Joint administrator, Oliver Collinge, said: “The directors at Caldwell have taken the difficult decision to place the company into administration. Our immediate focus is now on supporting employees and stakeholders while we assess the position of the business and its assets.”