º£½ÇÊÓƵ

The potential collapse of South West construction giant Midas Group Ltd could put up to 1,000 jobs at risk and wreak havoc on small supply chain firms, a leading business expert says.

Tim Jones, chair of the South West Business Council (SWBC), said that if Midas Group goes belly up it will be one of the biggest business failures to hit the region and a major blow for the regional economy.

Midas, which is involved in millions of pounds worth of building schemes across the South of England, has filed notices of intention to appoint an administrator for three companies: Midas Group, its construction arm Midas Construction, and its housing division Mi-Space.

The firm’s bosses stress it is still operating and is looking for a solution to its woes, stressing it is working “to explore all available options to achieve the best outcome for the business and our people, our customers, supply chain partners and all our stakeholders”.

The company - which has offices in Indian Queens in Cornwall, Exeter, Newton Abbot, Bristol, Newport in South Wales and Southampton - was recently ranked as the ninth largest private sector firm in the South West, by the Western Morning News, with a reported turnover of £291,267,008 and 498 employees.

But Mr Jones said that if the company was to go into administration and then into liquidation, it would spell disaster for many small companies.

He said job losses in the supply chain could hit 500, and said: “It would be a huge hit on multiple local subcontractors and material/service suppliers across the region which could cause a ripple effect of closures,” he said.

“Midas may be taken over, but the problem with administration is current contracts will be compromised and have to be renegotiated. Staff will have to be re-hired.”