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Administration: Watson Norie Limited

Written by Roberta Murray

Thursday, 25 September 2008

PwC announces administrators for Newcastle based company.

Ian Green and Mark Loftus of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP were appointed joint administrators of Watson Norie Limited on 25 September 2008.

The company, which was formed in 1920, and has a turnover of approximately £28m per annum, is a highly regarded major electrical and instrumentation contractor for a wide range of clients throughout the UK.

Its head office is located in Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne and has further offices situated in Scunthorpe and Grangemouth.

The company had been in negotiations with an interested party to sell part of the business, however they withdrew yesterday due to the potential costs they might incur under the T.U.P.E. regulations.

Regrettably it is not possible to continue the operations and fulfil outstanding contracts without significant additional funding. Accordingly, the majority of employees across the various sites and offices have been made redundant with immediate effect.

Ian Green, joint administrator and partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said:

“It is clearly disappointing that such a long established company and a well known name in the industry has been placed into insolvency proceedings, particularly for the employees. We are very keen to hear from anyone who may be interested in purchasing the business in whole or in part.”