Exeter school becomes victim of construction giant ISG’s collapse

Completion of Matford Brook uncertain

Exeter’s Matford Brook Academy appears to have become a victim of the collapsed construction giant ISG.

Contractors trying to access the school on the city’s March Close this week were unable to access the site, casting doubt on whether they will be able to recoup money owed to them and throwing the completion date of the school into uncertainty.

While Matford Brook Academy is operational, the school, which is run by the Exeter-based Ted Wragg Multi-Academy Trust, is not yet fully built.

The government website states that the school can take 1,439 pupils but lists its most recent pupil numbers as 60, having opened in September last year.

ISG-owned firm ESS Modular was working on the Exeter school, and is also now in administration.

One sub-contractor, who did not want to be named, said he had been hearing rumours for a while about ISG’s difficulties.

“For at least 12 months we’ve been hearing about problems with late payments and short payments,” he said.

“I heard that the procurement director of ISG had claimed recently that the installation of a new computer system had been the cause of payment issues.

“After that, it felt like things stabilised. Some people were still worried even though there were no issues with payments until last Friday (20 September).”

The contractor believed that ISG was probably the sixth largest contractor in the country, with a huge government contract order book.

“They do all the refurbishments of prisons, the schools in Exeter, they have got enormous public sector contracts which are now in jeopardy,” he added.

Reports suggest ISG had £1.8 billion of government contracts on its books when it failed.

ISG Construction Limited appointed an administrator on Thursday (26 September), according to filings on Companies House, having entered administration last Friday (20 September).

The 76-year-old firm is being overseen by insolvency practitioners at giant firm Ernst & Young (EY).

“ISG’s UK operations, which provided construction and related services in the UK, have ceased to trade with immediate effect,” a spokesperson from EY said.

“As a result, no further work will be undertaken on existing UK contracts, including for construction, fit out and engineering services.”

Devon County Council said ESS had been commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE) to build Matford Brook Academy.

“We understand that the school is open and previously communicated arrangements for the temporary buildings and teaching are unaffected,” a spokesperson said.

“We will support the trust and work with the DfE as they seek to find a resolution.”

A DfE spokesperson said: “We have implemented our detailed contingency plans and affected departments are working to ensure sites are safe and secure.”

And the trust has said it would share any new information it has with families as soon as it receives it.

It added that it had been reassured the next phase of its temporary accommodation would still be ready in November while the construction of the main school buildings continue.