Engineering news
Mark Group, a solar installer based in Leicester, has announced that more than 900 jobs are at risk as the company goes into administration.
Mark Group employs around 1,165 people across the UK, and says that the government is to blame for the move with its recent proposal to cut the Feed-in Tariff for residential solar by up to 87%.
A statement on the company's website confirmed Deloitte LLP has been appointed as administrators and all appointments for surveys and installations undertaken by the company's solar arm have been cancelled. The statement added the company's new build insulation division would continue to operate for a short period of time while the administrators pursue a sale of the business.
The company, which was founded in 1974, had previously suffered from the slow-down in the domestic energy efficiency market caused by the failure of the Green Deal energy efficiency scheme and on-going uncertainty over the future of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme, cutting 670 jobs as a result last September.
The company had created a “turnaround plan” by expanding its solar installation business and this summer agreed a deal to sell its solar division to major US-based solar firm SunEdison. However, SunEdison announced this week it is massively scaling back its presence in the UK market following the government's proposals to slash subsidy support for solar installations and confirmed it had sold the solar division back to Mark Group.
In its statement, Mark Group said its managers bought the business from SunEdison after taking advice and took the "regrettable decision to put the business into administration".
The company said: "This decision has not been taken lightly but the ongoing losses of the business meant it was our only option. The turnaround plan, which was already underway, focused on solar PV but the government's recent policy announcements mean this is no longer viable."
In a separate statement, joint administrator Chris Farrington also said "structural changes" in the company's core markets had resulted in the heavy losses that had led to administration.
SunEdison also released a statement blaming UK government's “draconian policy proposals” made by the government in August that “will essentially eliminate the solar PV market in the UK and have made our plan unviable.”
In recent weeks the government has announced plans to cut subsidies for domestic and business solar installations by up to 87%. The solar industry has warned the proposed changes means “hundreds of projects, millions of pounds of investment and many thousands of jobs have been put at risk".
However, the Department for Energy and Climate Change has said the cuts were to keep “bills as low as possible for hardworking families and businesses” and amid fears the renewables industry is on track to exceed the Treasury's clean energy subsidy spending cap for 2020.
Paul Barwell, CEO of the Solar Trade Association (STA), said: “This is terrible news for the UK solar industry. The consultation has not even closed, and businesses are already going under – despite the fact that the government claim this is a ‘real’ consultation. Mark Group going into administration will also cause serious knock on effects in the supply chain.
“Surely this will set alarm bells ringing for the Government? Jobs matter, and there are 27,000 at stake. We are preparing alternative solutions and will be working with decision makers to discuss our alternative proposal for more structured, steady and workable reductions to support.”
This announcement follows the release of analysis by the STA suggesting that up to 27,000 solar jobs could be at risk nationwide due to the proposed cuts to the Feed-in Tariff.
STA added that
Mark Group is one of the largest employers in Leicestershire, with the amount of job losses expected "comparable to the loss of 1,000 jobs at the Redcar steel works".