The full hit to subcontractors was confirmed in a statement of affairs posted at Companies House by administrators PwC.

It showed unsecured creditors were owed £9.1m including nearly £1.3m in retentions.

The company also owed money to HMRC, its employees and lenders bringing the total debt to £23m.

Main lender the Cumberland Building Society called in administrators in early October to the £40m turnover company.

A statement from Marcus Worthington directors at the time said: “The current economic uncertainty has led to us struggling to secure additional borrowing from our bank lenders.

“We have also been unable to attract fresh funding from other lenders because of these testing market conditions.

“Our primary thought at this time is with our staff. All our employees have been paid up-to-date as of September 30 and we will be supporting those affected in any way we can. We are consulting with our subcontractors and will update them in due course.”