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Melville Dundas
 Melville Dundas was a major Scottish construction company. HistoryThe business was established by Alexander Dundas in 1908; it was incorporated as Melville Dundas & Whitson during 1932.[1] Kenneth Dundas took over as chairman of the business in 1937.[1] During the Second World War the company was one of the contractors engaged in building the Mulberry harbour units.[2] During 1981, the company was acquired by F J C Lilley plc,[3] which traded as Lilley plc from April 1989.[4] until it went into receivership during January 1993.[5][6] Melville Dundas was bought out of receivership by its management team.[7][8] The revived company was able to achieve profitable operations early on.[9] In June 1999, the company recorded a pre-tax profit in excess of £1 million, a 24 per cent increase over the previous year.[10] Record growth was achieved during 2000 although profitability decreased, which was attributed to protracted contractual negotiations.[11] As early as 2001, Melville Dundas had encountered financial hardship due to difficulties encountered in collecting due payments for jobs which were disputed.[12] During 2002, in response to declining turnover, the firm opted to focus on smaller and less risky jobs.[13][14] In July 2002, following a sharp drop in profits that placed the firm in breach of a covenant to its lenders, Melville Dundas was compelled to renegotiate the terms of its bank borrowings.[15] During May 2003, Melville Dundas went into administration.[16][17] The auditing firm Ernst & Young was brought in to administrate the process; Carillion was amongst the several parties interested in acquiring assets that formerly comprised the company.[18][19] Ernst & Young partially attributed the collapse to the firm's management having overstated the value of multiple contracts.[20] In August 2003, a group of the company's creditors publicly called for an investigation into the collapse to be conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry.[21] Legal ramifications pertaining to employer payments, in spite of the firm's collapse, were still ongoing in late 2007.[22][23] ProjectsMajor projects undertaken by the company included the George V Bridge, Glasgow completed in 1928,[24] the Glasgow College of Building and Printing completed in 1964,[25] the extension to the Glasgow Dental Hospital and School completed in 1970,[26] University Hospital Crosshouse completed in 1978,[27] and the conversion of Queen's Hall, Edinburgh completed in 1979.[28] ReferencesCitations
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