Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company was a British bridge works and structural steel contractor based in Darlington.[1] It was operational for 144 years.
From the founding of the company in 1877, it had a presence in Darlington. While initially focused on fabrication, the company became one of the major bridgebuilders in the world, having constructed structures across all five inhabited continents. It built numerous landmarks around the world, including the Victoria Falls Bridge in Zimbabwe; the Tees Transporter Bridge; the Forth Road and Humbersuspension bridges in the UK; Hong Kong's Tsing Ma Bridge, and London's Wembley Stadium Arch.[3][4] Cleveland Bridge's Dubai subsidiary, which was established in 1978, fabricated and erected steel structures for, amongst other projects, the Burj Al Arab and Emirates Towers.[3]
During 1967, the company was acquired by The Cementation Company, which was itself bought by Trafalgar House soon thereafter. During 1990, it was merged with Redpath Dorman Long, another subsidiary owned by Trafalgar, to create Cleveland Structural Engineering. After a management buyout in 2000, the company operated as an independent concern, with considerable financial backing from Saudi Arabia's Al Rushaid Group. However, the company soon found itself in multiple legal disputes due to alleged quality issues and other concerns on its work on major projects such as The Shard and New Wembley Stadium; these proved to be not only costly in financial terms but also damaging to its reputation. During the early 2020s, the fiscal situation of the company declined considerably and backers proved to be unwilling to expend additional resources. Thus, in July 2021, the Darlington portion of the company went into administration in July 2021, owing £21m. After unsuccessful efforts to attract a buyer, the company was closed in September 2021.[2]
Victoria Falls Bridge
History
Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company was founded in 1877 in Darlington with a capital of £10,000.[1] Seven years later, the assets were sold to Charles Frederick Dixon, who registered the company on a Stock Exchange in 1893. By 1913, it had 600 employees.[5]
During 1967, the company was acquired by The Cementation Company.[6] Three years later, Trafalgar House purchased Cementation; it also acquired Redpath Dorman Long from Dorman Long Group in 1982, after which the two subsidiaries were merged in 1990 to create Cleveland Structural Engineering.[7] That business was renamed Kvaerner Cleveland Bridge following acquisition of Trafalgar House by Kværner in 1996.[1][8]
During 1999, it was reported that Kværner intended to sell the business amid a wider restructuring away from heavy manufacturing activities; at the time, the company employed roughly 600 staff following a series of job losses.[9][10] Despite appeals for financial assistance being made to the British government, it refused to intervene in the matter.[11] One year later, the company became independent through a management buyout that involved a payment of $12.3 million.[12][3][13] In addition to the UK-based operations, the same management team also acquired the company's Dubai subsidiary that had been established in 1978. Saudi Arabia's Al Rushaid Group provided finance to the firm which rose to an 88.5% stake by September 2002.[14]
Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, the company's headcount varied considerably, often rising soon after the awarding of key contracts to the business.[15] During this era, it undertook various activities, including its involvement in various road and railway-based schemes and several major construction projects, such as The Shard and Wembley Stadium.[16]
Final years
In July 2021, Cleveland Bridge sought further funding from Al Rushaid Group and warned 220 staff of potential redundancies. That same month, the firm was reported to be on the brink of administration as a result of contract delays and negative economic consequences that were partially attributable to COVID-19.[17][18]
Al Rushaid Group did not provide the requested resources; instead, FRP was appointed as the company's administrator and the business was put up for sale.[19][20][21] Consequently, 51 workers were made redundant in August 2021.[22] Around 25 staff continued to assist FRP, and 128 staff were furloughed under the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme pending restart of production.[23][24]
FRP was ultimately unable to secure a buyer for the business. Accordingly, on 10 September 2021, it announced the company would permanently close with the loss of a further 133 jobs.[2][25] They stated £12m would be required to fund the business to the end of 2021. The company assets were sold off in November 2021.[26][27]
Controversies
2016 death and HSE fine
In 2022, Cleveland Bridge & Engineering was fined £1.5 million by the Health and Safety Executive, with a further cost judgement of £29,000 against them. An inadequately secured crane access panel gave way in a 2016 fatal fall. The fine related to four breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 leading to the death. FRP Advisory stated it was unlikely the fine or costs could be paid.[28][29]
The Shard
In 2013, Cleveland Bridge was ordered to pay Severfield-Rowen plc £824,478 compensation for delays to their subcontracted work on The Shard. The judge accepted there was a very high incidence of poor workmanship in the steelwork Cleveland Bridge delivered. Cleveland Bridge's own internal correspondence highlighted an extraordinary work overload in 2010, and Judge Akenhead concluded it had taken on more work than it had capacity.[30][31]
Wembley Stadium
In 2002, the company won a £60 million steelwork contract for the bowl of New Wembley Stadium.[14] Part way through construction, relationships between main contractor Multiplex and Cleveland Bridge broke down. Multiplex stripped Cleveland Bridge of their erection role, handing it to roof steelwork contractor Hollandia. Two hundred of Cleveland Bridge's on site erection staff and subcontractors transferred to Hollandia and were sacked after going on strike. The situation escalated when Cleveland Bridge unilaterally repudiated its remaining stadium fabrication contract.[32][33][34][35]
Both sides blamed each other for extra costs; delays; poor workmanship; missing or incorrect steelwork; damaged, missing or incorrect paintwork; chaotic record-keeping; and the near site stock yards. Litigation ensued and Cleveland Bridge was ultimately ordered to pay Multiplex £6,154,246.79 in respect of net earlier overpayments; breach of contract, and interest. Cleveland Bridge was also ordered to pay 20% of Multiplex's legal costs.[36][33] It was claimed, in evidence, that some Wembley steelwork had been fabricated in China for Cleveland Bridge and that it had been diverted to the Beijing National Stadium.[33]
Mr Justice Jackson's 2008 judgement in the Technology and Construction Court was highly critical of both parties unwillingness to settle earlier in such an expensive case where the core evidence extended to over 500 lever arch files, and photocopying costs alone were £1 million. He highlighted the large number of items at dispute where the sums involved were substantially exceeded by the legal costs involved in resolving them.[33]
^Brown, A. J. (2007). The Tamar Bridge(PDF) (Report). University of Bath. p. 3. Archived from the original(PDF) on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
^"Forth Road Bridge". The Three Bridges. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
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