Coach station contractor in administration; Contractor bust.

Byline: Jon Griffin

THE main contractor behind the pounds 15 million redevelopment of Digbeth Coach Station has ceased trading, it was revealed today.

Just days after National Express said the new coach station would open as planned in November, Coleshill-based Ashford Construction announced it was to go into adminstration.

The long-established North Warwickshire building firm - part of the Old House Holdings group - confirmed the move in a statement.

The statement said: "It is with great sadness that Old House has to announce that its subsidiary Ashford Construction has had no option but to cease trading. The board and its advisers are taking steps towards appointing administrators.

"Rapidly declining workload and little sign of any pick-up in inquiry levels has left the directors with no options.

"The group is reviewing various restructuring alternatives with its advisers with the aim of securing the future of some of its subsidiaries."

The future of work on the coach station was not immediately clear following National Express's insistence at the end of last week that the project was on target as planned. The transport giant's statement last Friday said: "We cannot comment on any speculation regarding Ashford Construction PLC. We can confirm, however, that the new Birmingham coach station will open as planned in November 2009." Ashford Construction was named as contractor for Digbeth Coach Station in July last year.

The firm's pounds 8.6 million redevelopment forms part of an overall pounds 15 million investment by National Express, which is currently using a temporary coach station in Oxford Street. The transport gianthadalready stepped in to take over payments for security on the Digbeth site, with Great Barr-based Security Network UK Ltd owed pounds 40,000 for its work over the last four months. The new station has been designed to lead the overall regeneration plans for Digbeth and the Eastside district of Birmingham .