A preliminary report from administrators Deloite said sales of several assets were still to be finalised, but warned suppliers and trade contractors there would be nothing in the pot for unsecured creditors owed £47.7m.

Secured creditors, including the Bank of Scotland, are owed around £23m and will also lose money.

Deloitte revealed attempts were made to sell parts of the business before administrators were called in on 21 June.

Doyle started to run into trouble as early as February of this year.  A combination of shorter credit terms from suppliers and delayed customer payments had raised Doyle’s funding requirement to around £16m.

To raise cash the Doyle board decided to sell interior fit-out specialist Ibex with a deadline for offers by mid-June

But as debts mounted Doyle’s bank enlisted Deloitte to review the business fearing enforcement action by HM Revenue and Customs over an undue tax bill could tip the group over the edge.

Initially four firms expressed an interest in Ibex, but each eventually dropped out of the running, blaming harsh trading conditions in the marketplace.

Deloitte then attempted to find buyers for the other main trading firms in a last ditch attempt to set up prepack administration deals.

But approaches to at least 45 potential buyers and hoped-for management buyouts for the concrete and plant firms failed to materialise and ended with all companies placed in administration with the loss of 290 jobs.

Administrators later managed to raise £3.4m from the sale of Blythewood Plant machinery to auction specialist Bridgemere and is finalising property sales, which will be put into the creditors pot.