Staff at the Canterbury branch were stunned when Donaldson and McConnell went down with the loss of 102 jobs just six months after expanding into Kent.

Now the operation in Hersden near Canterbury has been renamed Harmony Timber Solutions saving twelve jobs.

Manager Norman Gore told the BBC: “It was very seat-of-the-pants. We had a few sleepless nights but things are beginning to settle down now.

“We weren’t aware of any problems and then suddenly we were advised that the parent company went into administration.”

Buyout expert Campbell McDonald of Baxi Partnership said: “All the evidence suggests that if you have a stake in your own organisation then your motivation to make that organisation a success just sky-rockets.”

Donaldson and McConnell employed 114 people at sites in Grangemouth in Scotland; Craigavon in Northern Ireland; West Bromwich in the West Midlands and Canterbury in Kent.

The group, which was formed in 1991, specialised in the design, supply and erection of complex timber and glue-laminated roof structures.