Langvale workers fear for jobs

Dec 5 2008 by Andrew Welsh, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

WORKERS faced an uncertain future yesterday after the administrators took control at a Perthshire building firm.

Perth-based property developer Langvale Homes was forced to call in practitioners from KPMG.

The firm, whose headquarters is in Shore Road, had been working on luxury developments in Perth’s Cherrybank district, Birnam and Rait, as well as others in Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire.

Founded in the mid-nineties by former Bett Homes director Terry Hawksby, Langvale had plunged into such severe financial difficulties that it was no longer able to service its debts.

Accounts for the financial year to February 2007 showed the firm had slid into the red even before the economic slowdown took hold, racking up pre-tax losses of more than £466,000.

Its liabilities at that time stood at almost £5.3million.

According to its website, Langvale’s plan for Cherrybank comprises 12 luxury flats overlooking Craigie Hill golf course, which have already sold out.

Other ambitious projects, including the creation of five high-end properties in sprawling grounds at Rait, have proved harder to market.