Founded in 1908 to build homes in the New Forest area, Drew grew to become prominent throughout most of central southern and south-west England taking on projects for public and private clients worth up to £8m.

The New Milton-based contractor reached revenue of around £20m and worked for schools, colleges and housing associations like Sovereign where its was working on a small flats scheme in Christchurch.

It also recently handed over Marwell Zoo’s £8m Tropical House and before that completed a new STEM building for Brokenhurst College and converted an old sorting office in Bournemouth into  83 apartments over five storeys.

West Midlands insolvency specialist Elwell Watchorn & Saxton is handling the administration.

A Sovereign spokesman said: “We were naturally very sorry to hear one of our contractors, H H Drew Construction, has gone into administration.

“We’re committed to delivering seven new affordable homes at Melbourne Road and Tensing Road in Christchurch and will be looking for a new contractor to get on site as soon as possible.”