The groundworks and civils contractor worked mostly for house builders in the north west and employed around 100 staff.

The business could not be contacted by telephone but one staff member confirmed to the Enquirer that it had been placed into administration.

The firm was established by Sean Walsh, a former director at Jon Ennis Construction, nine years ago.

He grew the Middleton-based business up steadily in recent years to achieve revenue of £38m last year making a modest £460,000 pre-tax profit.

The business is understood to have been hit by the Covid-19 house building lockdown.