The company has no connection with the much larger Murphy Group who are often referred to as Green Murphy in the industry.

Deloitte was called in to the firm’s Tottenham Hale head office this week and the administrator decided to cease trading the business yesterday.

Murphy Limited employs 327 people across sites including its London Head office, Manchester, Penrith, Preston, Sheffield, Ashford, Stanlow and Bradford.

Deloitte confirmed 293 staff have been made redundant while a small number of workers will be retained while options are explored to dispose of Murphy Limited’s business and assets.

Other group companies including Northern Reliable Industrial Services Limited, Reliable Construction Limited and Clear Route Utility Services Limited, are unaffected by the administration of Murphy Limited and continuing to trade as normal.

Murphy Limited specialised in laying underground electrical cables primarily for utility companies

Nick Edwards, Joint Administrator and restructuring services partner at Deloitte, said: “The company has suffered a prolonged period of difficult trading which has resulted in it being unable to meet its financial obligations.

“Regrettably, owing to the nature of the services provided by the business and the investment required to continue to trade, there is no other option but to announce these redundancies at this time.

“We have sought to retain a number of employees for the present time to assist the Administrators with an orderly wind down and sale of Murphy’s business and assets.”