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Kier has reportedly pulled the plug on plans buy Tilbury Douglas.

The firm was linked with a move for the near 拢500m turnover business in January with the firm expected to pay out no more than 拢50m for the contractor.

At the time, one rival said: 鈥淸Kier chief executive] Andrew Davies is a very sensible guy. He wouldn鈥檛 be doing a deal if he thought it was risky. They鈥檝e made it clear they want to increase turnover. [Tilbury Douglas] is more construction than civils and do a lot of similar stuff to Kier so it would make sense.鈥�

But Sky 好色先生TV has reported Kier has now walked away from the bid. Asked how negotiations were going at its interim results earlier this month, Davies declined to comment.

One industry source said: 鈥淢y guess is that they looked at the books and weren鈥檛 comfortable with what they saw. Kier was a credible buyer because they鈥檝e said they want to get their turnover up.

鈥淚鈥檇 be surprised if it was a disagreement over the price. I just think it鈥檚 Kier not prepared to take it on. You wonder where Tilbury Douglas goes from here.鈥�

Tilbury Douglas rebranded to its historic name last March, 20 years after ditching the marque.

The name, which dates back to 1884, was dropped in 2001 in favour of Interserve as the firm pushed more into the support services sector, such as FM, and away from its historic construction roots.

But Interserve was hobbled by a disastrous foray into the energy from waste sector which sent the firm into administration three years ago with the business being bought out by its banks.

It has since then undergone a break-up with the support services business sold to Mitie for 拢190m in 2020 and its RMD Kwikform business snapped up by a French-based scaffolding firm for a reported 拢140m last year.

That has left Tilbury Douglas as the last remaining part of the business with the firm鈥檚 last set of accounts for the year to December 2019 showing that it had a turnover of 拢485m.