employee for a sum thought to be in the region of more than $326,000.

Mr. David Terceira, a former carpenter with BC&M, has filed a writ against the firm at Bermuda's Supreme Court on behalf of himself and nine other former employees.

They claim that BC&M has an obligation to buy back a total of 36,229 shares which they collectively acquired during their period of employment with the firm.

BC&M's president, Mr. Alan Burland, claims his firm has no such obligation but is prepared to buy the shares back anyway as and when funds become available.

"I've written to all of these former staff fairly recently suggesting a way in which the company can buy the stock back,'' he said.

"We have an option to buy them back but we're not bound or obliged to repurchase them.'' The total value of the shares could be anywhere between $326,000 and $543,435, according to sources in the industry.

Since BC&M is a private company, the value of its shares at any one time is not commonly known but sources indicated they are now worth between $9 and $15 each.

Mr. Terceira was a carpenter with BC&M from 1983 until November of last year.

His lawyer, Mr. Tim Marshall, said: "Ten former employees of the company acquired during the course of their employment shares in the company. They acquired them on the understanding that these shares would be repurchased by the company should their employment cease, for whatever reason.

"That understanding was based on a number of provisions contained in the company's by-laws.

"However, at this moment in time, the ex-employees have been unsuccessful in getting the company to repurchase the shares.'' The by-laws provide that the market value of the shares be determined by the firm's auditor, said Mr. Marshall. "This process has not yet taken place,'' he added.

Mr. Burland yesterday disputed a number of Mr. Marshall's comments.

"Not only are we not obliged to buy these shares back but to say we haven't had them valued is not accurate. We have them valued regularly.'' In the past, BC&M has been happy to re-buy shares from employees who have retired or left the company for other reasons.

But the company is no longer in a position to immediately re-buy shares because of financial problems caused by the recession, which has severely hit all of the Island's construction companies.

BC&M now employs 70 people, compared to a high of 325 during 1987/88, said Mr.

Burland.

"People have left from all sectors, from vice presidents to labourers,'' he said. "Our company has had to change drastically over the last few years or so. Five years ago, we would only do work that was worth $2 million and over.

Now we will do anything from $50,000 up.'' With so many staff leaving, it was unrealistic to expect the firm to buy back all their shares at once, he added.

BC&M has offered to buy former employees' shares as and when the money becomes available and has also offered to take back equity in return for the firm's equipment and services.

The situation will be reviewed on a regular basis, said Mr. Burland.

"Historically, our scheme of encouraging employees to buy shares in the company and share in its profits has been very rewarding,'' he said. "The fact that former employees have taken this court action is a sign of the hard times. Most of those guys have done incredibly well out of their investment in the past.'' It may also pay shareholders to hold on to their shares until the construction industry and the company's position improves, when their value should go up.

Despite having fallen on harder times, BC&M was in no danger of going out of business, said Mr. Burland. "We're here for the long haul. We've been in the business for 65 years and we intend to be in the business for another 65 years.

"Businesses go through cycles, as do industries and economies. We've enjoyed the good times and we're not going to get out now that the bad times are here.

"Now that we're restructured and set our sights lower, we're having a relatively good time of it. We're competing well for the smaller projects and the results are speaking for themselves.''