Jobs saved as transport consultancy firm taken over by banks

Jobs at public infrastructure group Mouchel, which has an office in Stoke Gifford, have been secured – despite the company being placed into administration last week.

The company, which employs around 8,000 people around the UK, has been sold to a new organisation owned by its main lenders – RBS, Lloyds and Barclays – and Mouchel management.

The sale to MRBL Limited will enable all of Mouchel’s subsidiaries to continue operating as normal, according to the administrator, KPMG.

The banks will write off £83m of debt in exchange for an 80% stake in the new, delisted company, while management will own the remaining 20%.

Shareholders in the company will be left with nothing after they voted to reject proposals that would have seen them receive just 1p per share at an emergency meeting last Friday.

It is believed that around 40 people are employed at the Mouchel office in Lime Kiln Close, Stoke Gifford [map].

The company works closely with the Highways Department of South Gloucestershire Council and records show that the Council paid Mouchel over £64k for agency and consultancy work in the first five months of 2012.

Local projects that the company have been involved with include the implementation of waiting restrictions on roads around Bristol Parkway station, bus lanes introduced as part of the Greater Bristol Bus Network project and the impending closure of Patchway’s Highwood Road to general traffic.

Grant Rumbles, Chief Executive of Mouchel, commented:

“The completion of this restructuring means that the long-term future of this business is secure and the jobs of more than 8,000 people have been preserved. We now have the right capital structure to take Mouchel forward.”

“For our clients and suppliers it is business as usual. With a stable and supportive ownership structure and a balance sheet that is fit for purpose, Mouchel will be in a strong position to rebuild the business and start winning large contracts again.”