J K Guest Ltd worked for utility contracting consortium Kier/Murphy/Interserve in the north and is understood to have been hit by a payment dispute with the consortium delivering work for United Utilities in Cumbria.
An insider told the Enquirer: “The firm was owed around £1.6m but KMI disputed the claim, which created cash flow problems.”
He said: “There rest of the group is trading normally with around 50 staff continuing to work for the various divisions.”
The Skelmersdale group’s remaining companies include civil engineering, sheet piling and utility mapping businesses which are understood to turnover around £7m a year.