Mark Firmin and Howard Smith, of KPMG’s Yorkshire Restructuring practice, were appointed joint administrators yesterday and have laid off most of the 40 staff.

The site has been mothballed and administrators will now look for a buyer and are “considering options” for existing contracts.

Most of Barrett’s orders have recently been completed. But the collapse will hit Wolverhampton Wanderers where Barrett were building the north stand of the Molineux Stadium.

A source at the firm said: “Most of our recent contracts have been wrapped up, but we are still on the Molineux Stadium. About 90% of the staff have gone and a few are being kept on to help sort things out.”