Plaza Site Owners ‘Working Extremely Hard’ to Find a New Builder

Published on: 12 Jul, 2023
Updated on: 15 Jul, 2023

The Plaza site has been at a standstill since June 8 when building contractor Henry went into administration.

By Martin Giles

A spokesperson for Tiger Developments owners of the Plaza site at the bottom of Portsmouth Road (A3100), near St Nicolas church, has declined to confirm reports received by The Dragon that construction would recommence within weeks.

But the spokesperson did say: “We are working extremely hard to appoint an alternative contractor to complete the scheme as soon as possible and we will provide further information in due course.”

The Dragon understands that negotiations are underway with three shortlisted building contractors.

A local resident commented: “For them to restart within a month or two would be very good news as there has been speculation among some of the local neighbours that it could be years! I sincerely hope the work does recommence as the current situation is more of an eyesore than the site being derelict for nearly 30 years.”

Work stopped suddenly on the site last month when the building contractor Henry, reported to have had an annual turnover of £400 million, went into administration.

According to The Construction Index: “Since the appointment, the administrators have been assessing the position of the business with support from sector professional advisors.

“The business is no longer trading and most of its 40 staff have been made redundant. A small number has been retained to assist the administrators in their duties.”