Staff at the business – which trades under the  name Working Environments Ltd – were given the bad news earlier this week with an administrator due to be officially appointed imminently.

The company has been trading successfully for 47 years and latest results for the year to September 30 2021 show a turnover of £36.3m generating a pre-tax profit of £1.4m.

But the group has been hit by rising costs across the supply chain and a payment dispute on a major job with Willmott Dixon Interiors on the £40m Brindley Place office block refurbishment project in Birmingham.

The dispute caused a cash flow crisis despite the group having a forward order book of £31m.

TEPE told the Enquirer: “As well as our direct employees, we have a fantastic supply chain and at any one time have 300 plus supply chain partners working with us across our projects.

“Despite our best endeavours the impact of this difficult decision made will unfortunately have a knock on effect to our supply chain partners and suppliers.

“We wish to thank all our employees, supply chain partners, suppliers, and customers for the last 47 years.”

Willmott Dixon said it had been “very supportive” of Working Environments despite raising “several performance issues” on the Brindley Place job.

It added: “If Working Environments has gone into administration, Willmott Dixon Interiors deeply regrets that and the impact it will have on people’s lives. It will work closely with Working Environments’ supply chain moving forward to mitigate the impact.”