TopHat, the modular housebuilder, has announced that it will wind down its modular housing operations and make redundancies.
The company said that “challenging” market conditions and a falling pipeline had led to the decision after TopHat had previously seen off a winding-up petition filed by one of its creditors last month.
In a statement, the company said: “This orderly wind-down of volumetric operations will put the business in a position to assess all future options.”
“It is our strong belief that there is a continued need for category 1 [3D module] and category 2 [2D panel] modular in the UK and we hope that we can capitalise on this in the future.”
TopHat’s latest trading update for the year up to 31 October 2022 said that the modular housebuilder recorded a pre-tax loss of £5.1million despite significantly growing its turnover to £13.4million. The company also employed 212 people at the time at its Derby factory.
The news of the decision to wind up the modular business follows a number of announcements for the troubled company. Back in February, TopHat began a consultation over potentially cutting more than 70 jobs. Back in March, TopHat paused its plans for a 60,000 sq. m. manufacturing site in Corby, South Midlands, which was initially planned to be operational in 2023. The site would have been capable of producing one house every hour and would have been seven times larger than the current site in Derby. In August, Persimmon announced that it had written off its £700,000 investment in the modular builder as well as a further £24.3million of long-term loans.
Homes England, who loaned TopHat £15million in 2023, released a statement following TopHat’s announcement, saying: “We are aware of TopHat’s current position and continue to support the business.”
“Despite the current challenging market conditions, housebuilders continue to invest in MMC in recognition of the vital role technology has to play in delivering more high-quality, energy-efficient homes at pace and scale.”
TopHat is the latest in a series of modular firms to experience difficulties.”
