More than 250 jobs have been protected at steel provider John Parker & Son Ltd after the Canterbury yard was rescued from administration
115 year-old family firm John Parker & Son found itself in £8m worth of debt after several contractors failed to pay their bills.
Administrators from Grant Thornton were appointed who sold the firm’s Builders Beams division to Steelo Ltd and its Shoreham site to Barrett Steel.
Guy Parker, former managing director of John Parker & Son, is now set to take the reins on newly formed Parker Steel Ltd after acquiring financial investment from overseas.
In comments to Kent Online, Guy Parker said: “It’s a huge relief for everyone, although there is still a lot of hard work to do.
“It has been pretty stressful because I could see it coming down the tracks and was already looking for a new investor some months ago.
“It has also been worrying for the staff, many of whom are very long-serving, and I have had quite a few sleepless nights.
“So I was hugely relieved to tell them all their jobs are safe and have been transferred over to the new company under the TUPE regulations.”
John Parker & Son will eventually be liquidated with any of its assets going to its creditors.
