Rok chief defends Scottish operation

THE Scottish boss of building firm Rok yesterday leapt to the defence of the company's operations north of the Border after the group's revelation that it had uncovered serious failings elsewhere in the business.

The problems emerged following an investigation into its plumbing, heating and electrical division which was instigated after a restructuring failed to address a poor performance flagged in a trading update in April.

The board initially believed the problems had been caused by underperforming contracts.

It called in accountancy firm BDO to conduct an independent review and it found serious failings in the financial controls of the division. Rok suspended finance director Ashley Martin.

The company, whose shares plummeted on the announcement earlier this week, said other divisions were performing well.

Andy Mallice, managing director of Rok Scotland, said yesterday: "Rok's Scottish operation is a success story. The past year has seen us secure new business, we're training new apprentices and we've reacted swiftly to the effects of the recession to turn our arm of the company into a lean and focused outfit which will emerge stronger from the downturn.

"Rok has seen significant growth in Scotland over the past decade, boosted by our acquisition, in 2006, of Tulloch Construction."

He said that the plumbing, heating and electrical division had grown in Scotland through acquisition and was operationally healthy.