Molson administration: Bristol plant dealer's stock is being sold, Construction Enquirer reports

If you’ve paid Molson, the Bristol plant dealer, a deposit on a machine, the people who now hold the answer about that money work for PwC. In its report of 6 November on the Molson administration, Construction Enquirer says administrators have taken control of five group companies and are selling off the remaining plant and parts stock while chasing outstanding debts.

Founder and chief executive Robin Powell revealed the decision to staff on Friday morning, Construction Enquirer says. If you’re running the business side of a construction firm with a Molson machine on order or in for repair, the worry is the job it was meant for. Nothing in the report tells UK customers what happens to their orders, deposits, repairs, warranty work or parts supply, and it gives no contact point for customers. That answer has to come from the administrators.

Molson administration covers five UK companies and a long list of brands

Construction Enquirer names the companies as Molson Group, Molson Equipment Services, Capital Equipment Finance, Aggregate Processing Solutions and Molson Scotland, with operations across England and Scotland.

One of the five is Capital Equipment Finance. If your machine is on finance, check whether that’s the company your agreement is with, as well as which company is on your purchase order.

Molson’s machinery portfolio spanned Kobelco, Hyundai Construction Equipment, Terex ranges, Sennebogen, Bell Equipment, Thwaites, Merlo and Husqvarna demolition robots, and it ran 16 UK locations with more than 95 service engineers supporting contractors and plant hirers, Construction Enquirer says. If your Thwaites dumper or Kobelco excavator came through Molson, or goes back to them for servicing, this is your dealer. Your operators’ tickets don’t hang on the dealer, though: the plant training standards for those machines come from CITB, not from Molson.

PwC’s Tom Crookham and Ross Connock are joint administrators across the group, Construction Enquirer reports, with Mark (Toby) Banfield alongside them at Molson Group and Vesela Romagnoli on the other four companies.

A funding crunch sank the UK group while the US arm was sold on

The Bristol-based dealer ran into a funding crunch after significant financial difficulties in recent months, Construction Enquirer says, and PwC blamed weakened UK demand and uncertain trading conditions.

Construction Enquirer says turnover edged down to £333m in the year to September 2024, while operating profit fell to £1.9m from £15.9m. Interest and similar costs of £12.2m then pushed the group to a £10.3m pre-tax loss, reversing an £8.1m profit the year before, according to Construction Enquirer.

Molson Group’s shares in its American businesses were sold to a newly incorporated company straight after PwC was appointed, and those businesses are trading normally, Construction Enquirer reports. That covers the US only.

Get the answer in writing before you pay Molson again

Your order or finance paperwork will say which of the five companies you actually deal with. When you contact the administrators, give them that company name, the order reference and what you’ve paid so far, and ask for a reply about your machine or your repair, not the group in general.

Before your next payment to Molson goes out, get it in writing from the administrators: what you’ll get for it, and what happens to the money you’ve already paid.

If you end up buying a replacement machine from another dealer, ask for the total payable on the quote, the same plain question that cherry picker tariffs on Chinese boom lifts made worth asking.