Acrimonious marriage breakup cited in unexpected company closure.
DRS Demolition National, the St Austell-based contractor responsible for the dismantling of the MSC Napoli in 2007, has today closed its doors. Although no official statement has been released, DemolitionNews understands that the closure is linked with an acrimonious marriage split between founder and director David Shrigley and his third wife and fellow director Donna Shrigley.
The news has obviously come as a shock to workers at the company’s Demelick Manor headquarters. When DemolitionNews called earlier to verify rumours of the closure, it was greeted with a clearly upset member of staff still coming to terms with having just lost her job.
The closure of the company will come as a surprise to the wider demolition community as well. Contrary to the “National” part of its name, DRS Demolition National rarely ventured outside its native Cornwall. Yet, despite this stubborn insularity, the company had gained an impressive and loyal customer base including, most notably, china clay producer and mining giant Imerys.
The company had also enjoyed a period of post-recession investment as we reported in Issue 9 of the Demolition magazine. In the past two years, the company had re-equipped its busy recycling yard with a Powerscreen crushing and screening system. Meanwhile, at the sharp end of the company’s demolition business, it has invested just shy of £2 million with local dealer Molson Group to boost its fleet of demolition specification excavators.
Aged 66 and, presumably, facing the prospect of a protracted and seemingly bitter divorce settlement, it seems unlikely that David Shrigley will be seen at the front line of the demolition industry again. However, he has intimated that his son Darren is currently weighing up the possibility of starting a new company of his own.
