Documents seen by the Press and Journal reveal that £7.7m is owed to unsecured creditors.

The company also owed  £4.2m to the Bank of Scotland and more than £100,000 in wages to former staff.

The full scale of the firm’s financial troubles will be explained at a creditors meeting later this month.

Receivers laid off 178 staff in January after being called in to Mintlaw-based Les Taylor Contractors and sister company JG Fowlie.

Another 20 jobs went days later when administrators were called in at Grampian Building Contractors, the Ellon skip-hire and quarry firm which the late Les Taylor bought for £11.6million just three years ago.

Together the firms, which were the three main divisions of the Les Taylor Group, owe £13,289,381 – based on estimates given by directors.

Civil engineering and quarrying specialist Les Taylor Contractors is responsible for £12million of the debt.

That figure includes the £4,219,000 owed to the bank, which is secured against all three companies.

According to the report by joint receivers Colin Dempster and Andrew Davison, of Ernst and Young, the company suffered a huge decline in work in 2009 and 2010.

Due to the “limited interest” in the company, they have decided to break it up and auction the vehicles and plant at Thainstone Centre at Inverurie on March 23.

They also plan to sell off the firm’s headquarters, the Longbog Quarry at Newmachar and land the firm owns at Fetterangus.

A full list of creditors and what they are due from the three companies will be revealed at Ernst and Young’s Aberdeen office, in Fountainhall Road, on March 16.

Creditors of Grampian Building Contractors will meet at 10am, followed by those owed money by JG Fowlie at 1pm. Les Taylor Contractors’ creditors will meet at 2.30pm.