The housing division of collapsed Midas Group Plc has been bought by a national property services company as the South West construction giant enters administration and announces redundancies.
Bosses at Exeter-headquartered Midas are understood to have told staff via team calls and emails that administrators have been appointed and more than 200 workers are believed to have been made redundant.
But within hours it was announced that Bell Group had swooped to purchase Mi-space (UK) Ltd, the property services division which is part of the Midas Group.
The acquisition grows Bell’s already strong presence in the South West and Wales and protects an estimated 110 direct and indirect jobs.
Bell is a market leader in the sector and already has offices across the South West in Plymouth, Taunton, Bristol, and South Wales, with plans to open up a new office in Exeter in 2022.
The family-owned firm has more than 2,200 employees nationally, with 312 of those in the South West, where it also supports a further 220 supply chain jobs.
The deal to purchase the Mi-space business and certain of its assets out of administration secures economic activity valued at up to £20m annually to the local economy, significant supply chain links and indirect employment.
Mi-space has worked for many years in communities across the South West and Wales on a wide range of property improvement, energy efficiency upgrades and retrofitting to homes, benefiting thousands of families and supporting clients which currently include: Vale of Glamorgan Council, Cornwall Housing Association, Curo Places Ltd, Bristol City Council, Exeter City Council, Ovo Energy and Sanctuary.
Mi-space was one of five companies - also including Midas Group, Midas Construction Ltd, Midas Retail Ltd, and Midas Commercial Developments Ltd - which had filed notices of intention to appoint administrators and are understood to have now gone into administration.
Midas was recently ranked as the ninth largest private sector firm in the South West, by the Western Morning News Annual Business Guide 2022, with a reported turnover of £291,267,008 and 498 employees.
But rumours have been circulating in recent weeks that the company was in financial trouble, after it announced a £2m loss in 2021 - its first deficit in 40 years of trading. The company has offices in Indian Queens in Cornwall, Exeter, Newton Abbot, Bristol, Newport in South Wales, and Southampton.
Craig Bell, chief executive of Mi-space’s new owner Bell Group, said: “We are very pleased to have been able to complete this acquisition of Mi-space (UK) Ltd and to be protecting some of the jobs and a significant part of the Midas Group business.
“The expertise and enthusiasm within Mi-space (UK) Ltd is an excellent fit for Bell Group as we continue to grow our business based on true family values, excellent customer service and our support for our employees and for local communities. We look forward to welcoming the Mi-space team into Bell Group and we would also like to thank current Mi-space customers for working with us and helping us support local jobs and local supply chains.”
