Administrators from Grant Thornton made 40 staff redundant immediately when they took control of the regional contractor this week.

Joint administrators Richard Lewis and Alistair Wardell said the £53m turnover firm had ceased trading on their appointment.

Lewis said: “The business has been impacted by increased costs on fixed priced contracts, delays in the commencement of new projects and a dispute over amounts due under a key contract.

“Whilst the directors had considered alternative options, they sadly concluded it was no longer viable to continue to trade.

“Our efforts are initially focussed on supporting employees with making claims to the Redundancy Payments Service, securing physical assets and gathering information and evidence to support any claims the company has under contracts including in relation to retentions.”