The specialist is one of the biggest names in the sector and is owned by Hanson.

The materials giant bought Irvine-Whitlock in 2007 with the aim of supplying bricks and laying them within one business.

But latest accounts for Irvine-Whitlock show it made a £5,634 loss from a turnover of £15.9m for the year to December 31 2019 following a £1.28m loss the previous year.

In the year before the Hanson sale Irvine Whitlock made a pre-tax profit of £7m from a turnover of £58.5m and employed 595 staff.

In 2019 the company employed 60 people.

Matt Barlow, Hanson’s strategy and development director, said: “We have made the difficult decision to close Irvine-Whitlock, one of our non-core businesses.

“In the short-term, the specialist building contractor will complete outstanding existing contractual obligations, but no new business will be progressed.

“The closure will result in redundancies among the Irvine-Whitlock team and we have already been liaising and working with those affected to find them alternative employment in the sector.

“We would like to thank all Irvine-Whitlock employees affected by this change for their hard work and dedication.”