Ashfield rethinks way forward for paused ADMC project 

Work could resume in May at the Automated Distribution and Manufacturing Centre, should the council sign off funding changes and resolve contract issues.

After governance issues were identified at the start of this year with Ashfield Council’s flagship Town Deal project, chief executive Theresa Hodgkinson paused the project, with contractor Lindum pulling its workers from the site.

Ashfield posted a statement last week confirming that it has taken “quick and responsible action after internal checks identified governance issues”.

On 13 April, the local authority’s cabinet will consider the matter and decide next steps.

A full council meeting later the same day will be asked to sign off a further £7.8m in capital funding, which will allow highways infrastructure for the wider Ashfield Innovation & Technology Park to be delivered along with the works specific to the ADMC.

Background

The ADMC is intended to be a national centre of excellence for automation, and would also blaze the trail for the AITP, opposite Sutton Parkway railway station.

The ADMC is envisaged as a 37,660 sq ft centre, including space for R&D, product development and testing, education, tech showcasing and events.

The ADMC was granted £19m of Ashfield’s £62.6m Town Deal allocation, with a further £10m coming from other sources including Nottingham Trent University and Vision West Notts College.

Main contractor Lindum was appointed last summer to lead delivery.

Work so far

In August last year, work began to prepare the site for construction, including preparation for utilities infrastructure, temporary removal of a hedgerow, and removal of invasive species.

Negotiations also took place with the Highways Authority to secure the necessary agreements for works to create access from Lowmoor Road – work which now will be more extensive.

YMD Boon (acting as agent for Armson & Partners) was awarded a contract for specialist advice via the ESPO Framework via an officer delegated decision in January 2025. Armson & Partners has carried out quantity surveyor works on the ADMC project but the contract remained unagreed and unsigned.

An executive decision was then taken on 3 February 2025 by the executive lead member for finance, revenues and benefits “to enter into contracts with Lindum Group to carry out the new build construction of the ADMC and associated Section 278 works”.

The award of two contracts followed a process in accordance with the SCAPE Regional Page 224 Framework. A pre-construction services agreement was entered into between the council and Lindum – however, although no further formal contracts were entered into, works started on site. After the monitoring officer raised concerns, Ashfield’s chief executive took the decision to suspend all works on 9 January.

The report

The council said last week that its monitoring officer has issued a Section 5A report, a statutory mechanism triggered where there is a potential breach of law.

As part of the process, an independent review has been carried out. Broadly, the main finding is that although there have been a number of deficiencies in governance arrangements, “there is no evidence that there were wilful actions taken by anyone involved to deliberately avoid compliance with the council’s rules and regulations”.

Contributory factors appear to be the number of changes in senior officers over the period of the project, the senior team needing to focus on a range of wider matters – reducing the time available to ensure that all the projects had sufficient and timely attention – and the relevant teams not being fully aligned or involved in the project early enough.

What happens now?

Along with various bodies including the Local Government Agency, the Ministry for Housing, Communities & Local Government – distributor of Town Deal cash – has been brought up to speed by Ashfield.

A revised Memorandum of Understanding with MHCLG has now been signed, allowing funds to remain available until March 2028.

Subject to members signing off the additional capital funding – highway works will go up from the £3.5m associated with the ADMC to £9.5m – an extraordinary cabinet meeting will consider on 20 April its preferred option to resolve the contract and procurement issues, allowing officers to press on with finalising contracts.

According to the report, Lindum has indicated it “could be in a position to recommence works on site in early May”. This could allow highway works to be completed in August 2027, and building construction in September 2027, with the asset handed over a month later, officers said.

How the contracts situation emerged

According to the statement released by Ashfield last week, the issues were identified internally by council officers, who escalated concerns, triggered the independent expert review, and paused work on site while more information and legal advice were gathered.

The independent review confirmed that some elements of the project did not follow the council’s established governance and procurement processes including work being delivered and paid for before contracts were in place; and increases in infrastructure costs that should have been escalated for approval earlier than they were.

Ashfield said it has already put in place a series of decisive actions, including:

• Voluntarily pausing works in January to protect the council and the taxpayer while corrective actions were developed.
• Commissioning an independent external review.
• Strengthening procurement oversight, contract management controls, and internal project governance.
• Beginning work on a refreshed scheme budget to ensure full, formal approval before any new contracts proceed.

Early engagement has also taken place with government partners, including MHCLG and the Council’s external auditor, Mazars, to maintain transparency and provide assurance.

Despite the pause to works, Ashfield’s message is that the ADMC project remains viable, deliverable and a major priority.

Council chief executive Theresa Hodgkinson said: “We identified these issues ourselves, acted immediately, and we are being fully transparent about the steps we are taking.

“The ADMC remains a transformational project for Ashfield. It is central to our plans for economic growth, business innovation and high-quality employment opportunities in the district.”

The council stressed that no taxpayer money had been unnecessarily spent.

Hodgkinson continued: “All of the work carried out has contributed to the delivery of the project, and payments relate to legitimate work completed on site. There is no suggestion the money has been lost or misused.

“Our focus now is on strengthening governance, and ensuring we are in the strongest possible position to move forward with the project. Our aim is to be back on site in early May, and I’ll confirm as soon as I can what the revised timeframes for the completion of this flagship project will be.”

Wider AITP site

Initial masterplanning work has been undertaken, indicating the potential for six or seven new commercial buildings in addition to site infrastructure. Public consultation on early design concepts has taken place, with an outline planning application for the wider AITP proposed subject to cabinet approval of the business case and full funding being approved.

Ashfield’s best estimate currently is that the park could have a net developable area of 19.2 acres after accounting for the ADMC plot, buffer space and essential infrastructure.

The overall land purchase of the AITP site – bought from Notts County Council – was £4.48m.

Other actions for Ashfield

While the review looked specifically at the ADMC, it was pointed out that there are lessons and reflections appropriate to consider across Ashfield’s programme of regeneration and capital delivery programmes. It is recommended that the chief executive develops an improvement plan based on these points, to be presented to cabinet in June.

Nine learning points are set out, including the earlier involvement of legal, finance and procurement departments, especially in light of project management resources at the council being described as inadequate for the size and complexity of the project at hand.

Using the existing regeneration and capital board for strategic oversight is also mentioned. Risk registers should be put in place.