Osborne boss sorry as 100 staff laid off in collapse

Reigate-headquartered developer and builder Geoffrey Osborne Limited has formally entered administration, resulting in around 100 staff being made redundant. 

The Surrey contractor faced “significant headwinds” over the past two years, including high inflation, the lingering impacts of the pandemic and Brexit, and a slowdown in public sector procurement. 

Osborne sold its property management division, infrastructure business and offsite manufacturing arm and reinvested the proceeds of all three sales into its construction business. 

However, residual losses on legacy projects have undermined performance which has impacted its ability to win new work.  

A small number of staff will be kept on temporarily to assist administrators and discussions with possible investors with a view to ensuring parts of the business continue to trade, said the company.  

Osborne was founded in 1966 in Chichester by civil engineer Geoffrey Osborne, and its principal shareholders are still the Osborne family.  

Andrew Osborne became chairman of the group in 2012 having joined the company in 1998. 

Chairman Andrew Osborne said: “This is a sad day and one we worked very hard to avoid. I’m sorry for our staff, who are the greatest strength of our business, and thank them for their work over many years. 

“Appointing administrators is a last resort after a determined effort to trade through the economic headwinds and deliver for customers.  

“The management team will now work with the administrators on the next steps for the business.” 

Damian Webb, joint administrator, added: “Regrettably despite the substantive efforts of the Osborne team it has not been possible to rescue the business. 

“This failure is attributable to the macro-economic challenges the company has faced since Covid and the consequent loss of confidence in the sector from investors and funders.” 

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