Angus Council housing chiefs say the collapse of Dundee firm McGill won’t hit the installation of life-saving smoke alarms to their homes.
The construction company plunged into administration last month with the loss of more than 60 jobs.
It followed weeks of speculation around the future of McGill Facilities Management Limited.
Company owner Graeme Carling said the “unprecedented challenges” of the past few years had been impossible to overcome.
The firm’s contracts included work for local councils and housing associations.
Communities committee concerns
And the potential ramifications of the McGill collapse were raised at Tuesday’s meeting of Angus communities committee.
The company was fitting smoke alarms in Angus council houses.
Laws requiring all households to have interlinked fire alarm systems came into force on February 1.
Those were introduced in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
The vast majority of Angus Council houses now have new alarms installed.
But Arbroath councillor Derek Wann sought assurances over the remainder.
“Are we confident we have got someone to replace McGill for this work?” he said.
“These were supposed to be done by February, but there may have been an extension from the Scottish Government to get this completed.”
Housing official Gavin Balfour said: “We’re well on with the smoke detectors.
“The only remaining ones are tenants where we have had difficulty gaining access.”
Housing chiefs had previously urged tenants to allow contractors in to their homes for the alarms to be fitted.
And they warned that the council might have to take direct measures in cases where people didn’t allow access.
“We did have three contracts,” said Mr Balfour.
“The work McGill had will now have an alternative contractor and be carried out.”
Fife Council is among other local authorities reviewing contracts it had with the Dundee company.
Troubled history
McGill previously went into administration in January 2019, with the loss of 400 jobs.
Soon after, Mr Carling invested around £1 million to buy the McGill name and assets, including the company’s headquarters in Harrison Road.
The firm won several multi-million-pound deals.
Through his investment company United Capital, Mr Carling also purchased several other construction firms including Alliance Electrical of Forfar and Cupar’s Kingdom Gas Services.
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