Norfolk builders merchant to be liquidated

Independent builders’ merchant Yarecrete Construction, based in Norfolk, is in the hands of the liquidators.

Insolvency practitioners Parker Andrews have been appointed to wind up the business, just 18months after Yarecrete itself bought rival merchant Halls Group.

Jamie Playford, insolvency practitioner for Parker Andrews, said the firm had struggled to cope with the poor state of the construction industry and had been hampered by competition from national builders’ merchants.

Ironically, the purchase of Halls group also hit profits, Playford said.

“The construction industry had not picked up as quickly as they thought it was going to, and they found pricing difficult when matched against builders merchants like Travis Perkins. The fact that is had bought Halls out of administration had become a cash drain on the firm as they tried to integrate the business.”