Royal warrant holder Fairhurst Ward Abbots has appointed adminsitrators from Begbies Traynor
The Queen鈥檚 builder and decorator, Fairhurst Ward Abbots (FWA), has entered administration.
Jamie Taylor and Kirstie Provan of Begbies Traynor were appointed joint administrators of Fairhurst Ward Abbotts Limited on 1 July.
All but a 鈥渉andful鈥� of the firm鈥檚 253 staff members have been made redundant, the administrators said.
According to a statement from the administrators, the specialist conservation and restoration contractor ceased trading on 30 June due to 鈥渟evere cash flow difficulties鈥� which arose from trading losses.
鈥淭he directors had been tirelessly attempting to source new external investment and funding to enable the continuation of trading, however despite their efforts no investment has been forthcoming within the timeframe available, and the situation was exacerbated last week by the filing of a winding-up petition by a creditor,鈥� the administrators added.
The administrators will now look for a purchaser of the businesses assets.
Since its inception in 1941 FWA has worked on numerous historic buildings, including Windsor Castle, Chatsworth and The V&A, and was awarded in 1996 with its royal warrant
In 2006 former surveyor Kevin Brush acquired a majority stake in the firm and subsequently pursued a policy of expansion.
This saw the company grow its turnover from 拢10.9m for the year ended 28 February 2006 to 拢70.5m for an 18 month period ending 31 August 2014.
However, the firm also reported a 拢1.6m pre-tax loss for the period ending 31 August 2014, which was attributed to 鈥渁 number of loss making contracts鈥� and investment in the company鈥檚 infrastructure.
The director鈥檚 report added that 鈥渟ince the end of the year end additional financing has been secured, which has enabled the directors to fund the working capital of the business for the foreseeable future鈥�.
Administrators from Tait Walker have also been appointed at contractor Turney Wylde Construction.
A spokesman from Tait Walker confirmed that Turney Wylde had ceased to trade and 82 employees had been made redundant with immediate effect.
The last set of accounts filed for the Turney Wylde, established in 1967, showed a turnover of 拢5.7m for the year ended 31 December 2013 and a pre-tax profit of 拢132,807.
The directors report said that the company had been on course to hit turnovers of 拢12m in 2014 due to a healthy order book buoyed by various framework wins.
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