The elusive chairman of Muirfield Contracts has left a trail of collapsed businesses in his wake.
Unravelling the companies associated to Thomas John Stodart is no easy task.
Mr Stodart, who is known as John, has held directorships at a number of companies, several of which are already liquidated, dissolved or, as in the case of historic Dundee firm Nicoll and Jack, seemingly on the verge of going to the wall themselves.
Azure Investments, the company which bought out Muirfield Contracts in 2013 and is owned by Mr Stodart, also has stakes in three other Scottish companies: Aberdeen-based Screw Conveyor; Galashiels forestry company Dick Brothers; and Scottish Electric Group, which is based on Luna Place in Dundee’s Technology Park.
All three are going concerns and one Scottish Electric Group employee told The Courier the business had nothing to do with Muirfield Contracts.
Asked about Mr Stodart’s role within the company, she responded: “No comment.”
That company was founded after two other similar-sounding firms of which Mr Stodart was a director, Scottish Electric (Services) and Scottish Electric (Holdings), went into liquidation.
Both were based on Brown Street in Dundee but were liquidated in 2013. Their premises remain vacant although the upper floor is currently occupied by the popular Embassy Snooker Club.
Embassy manager Zahid Razak has stressed his comnpany has no connection with Mr Stodart or any of his business interests.
One woman who works in the Brown Street area said it seemed as if Scottish Electric had closed down “overnight”.
However, that was not the end of the story.
In 2011, Mr Stodart was made a director of Dundee engineering firm Nicoll and Jack.
According to its website, it had been known as Scottish Electric (Services) until it had been set up as an independent concern.
Mr Stodart, according to Companies House, resigned in March 2013, the same time as Azure Investments bought Muirfield Contracts.
When The Courier visited Nicoll and Jack on Friday, our reporter interrupted a meeting of three men. Asked if the company was going to close, The Courier was told no comment was being made.
They denied Muirfield Contracts going into administration had any bearing on its own difficulties.
Before his involvement with Azure Investments, Mr Stodart was also a director with an IT training company called New Horizons.
This company later changed its name to Amadeo and then Atrium Computers Ltd before it too was liquidated in 2009.
Many of Mr Stodart’s businesses are registered at an address in Birmingham or via DC Consulting’s office in Dundee One at 5 West Victoria Dock Road.
The collapse of Muirfield Contracts is also having an impact on businesses outwith Mr Stodart’s own labyrinthine network of companies.
James Hunter, a director of Larkhall company McCormick and Hunter, said his firm will lose out on between £80,000 and £100,000 as result of Muirfield’s demise.
He said: “At the time of Muirfield going into administration we were working on two of their projects, Parkview and Fraserburgh.
“We had more or less finished the Parkview job and the way the building trade works you have to wait for at least 45 days for payment, so we have not been paid any money for all the materials and labour on this contract.
“We had not long started on the Fraserburgh contract, which was new housing for Aberdeen City Council, so have also not been paid a penny for materials and labour on this contract.
“All the talk from members of parliament are always about those directly employed but never about the subcontractors and their labour work force and how it affects them.
“We are a small family-run company and have been on the go now for 20 years, this is not the first time this has happened to us.
“Something has to change as to the time you wait for your first payment in the construction industry.”
Mr Stodart did not return The Courier’s calls.
His profile on Azure Investment’s website – which has now been taken down – stated: “John is a highly successful entrepreneur, transforming a number of businesses in traditional industries.
“He specialises in delivering long-term strategic growth in established businesses by leveraging on company strengths and ensuring the development of staff.
“He has particular expertise in the construction sector, critical to the success of Muirfield Investments Plc.”