Greenwich Council has insisted work on revamping Woolwich town centre will resume “as soon as possible” after the construction company in charge of the scheme collapsed.
Geoffrey Osborne Ltd called in administrators on Tuesday, with the loss of 100 jobs at its head office in Surrey.
It had been given the contract to refurbish Powis Street and Beresford Square by the council, which had been given £17.1 million by the government as part of the Future High Streets fund.
Work has stopped on the Woolwich project, which involves partially landscaping Beresford Square – the traditional market square – with an interactive water fountain, new lighting, seating and a pavilion for community events.
Powis Street is to get new paving, seating, planting, play spaces and lighting. Some of the paving work had been carried out before Osborne shut down, but the project still has some way to go before it is finished.
“The council is ensuring the sites are secure, and health and safety is maintained,” a spokesperson said.
“We’ll be taking measures to ensure work progresses on the Beresford Square, Powis Street and Market Pavilion projects as soon as possible and will update local residents, businesses and market traders when we have more information.”
The council did not respond to questions on whether the scheme would have to be cut back to cover the costs of Osborne’s collapse or whether it would approach the government for more money to finish the scheme.
Rising costs, Brexit, the lingering effects of the pandemic and cuts in public sector spending were blamed for the collapse of the company, which was one of Britain’s best-known public sector builders. The company had been attempting to restructure itself and had sold off a number of subsidiaries before it fell into trouble.
“As part of our procurement process to select a contractor for the project, we carried out thorough financial checks and Osborne passed all of these successfully before they were appointed to the project,” the council said.
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