Molson Group, one of Britain’s largest independent dealers of new and used heavy construction equipment, has entered administration with the immediate loss of 203 UK jobs.

The Bristol-headquartered business had 345 UK employees. Administrators from PwC were appointed on Friday 6 November 2026 after weakened demand in the UK construction market and mounting funding pressures left the group unable to complete a sale of its UK operations in time.

Five companies in administration

PwC partners Tom Crookham, Toby Banfield and Ross Connock were appointed joint administrators of Molson Group Limited. Crookham and Connock, joined by Vesela Romagnoli, were also appointed over four subsidiaries: Molson Equipment Services, Capital Equipment Finance, Aggregate Processing Solutions and Molson Scotland.

The group had filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator on 5 November. The administrators said “challenging macroeconomic factors”, weakened UK demand and near-term funding needs had left no time to complete a sale of the whole business.

The 203 immediate redundancies account for almost three fifths of the group’s UK workforce, and a further 140 jobs are expected to follow as the UK businesses are wound down. The group’s yard on Lauchope Road in Motherwell has closed, and the administrators will carry out an orderly wind-down, working with a number of retained employees to realise stock and debtor balances.

A dealer across England and Scotland

Founded in 1996, Molson described itself as the UK’s largest independent dealer of new and used construction equipment. It operated from 16 locations across England and Scotland, including Darlington, supplying machinery from manufacturers such as Hyundai Construction Equipment, Kobelco, Sennebogen, Bell Equipment, Thwaites and Merlo to construction contractors, plant hire businesses and customers in the waste and recycling sectors.

The scale of the group’s financial deterioration was clear in its latest reported accounts, for the year ended 30 September 2024. Revenue declined modestly to about £333 million, but operating profit fell sharply to £1.9 million from £15.9 million a year earlier. Financing costs of about £12.2 million contributed to a £10.3 million pre-tax loss, against an £8.1 million pre-tax profit the year before.

US business sold as UK winds down

On appointment, the administrators completed the sale of Molson Group Limited’s shares in its US businesses to a newly incorporated company, Fieldsec Hastings Limited. US employees will transfer to the buyer, along with a small number of UK staff.

The collapse is one of the more significant insolvencies in the UK’s heavy equipment and construction plant sector this year, reflecting the pressure on businesses exposed to subdued construction activity and tighter financing conditions.