Administrators from Grant Thornton have taken over at Matrix Solutions UK, which is based in Bradley Stoke with additional sites in Taunton, London and Leeds.

Now 30 staff and 50 subcontracted workers are waiting to hear their fate as a round of redundancies are planned.

Matrix Solutions was formed from a management buyout from maintenance specialist Connaught back in 2002.

At peak it turned over £20m a year specialising in multi-storey car park refurbishment, concrete repair and building maintenance.

The firm built up a blue chip list of clients like BAA, Debenhams and Asda, carrying out jobs at Heathrow, Oxford Street in London and multi-storey car refurbs around the country.

Nigel Morrison of Grant Thornton said: “We are making enquiries about a potential sale of the business, but unfortunately there will be numerous redundancies whatever the outcome of these discussions.

“Despite the obvious evidence that an economic recovery is in place, there remains much fragility among smaller companies, which in many cases are unlikely to be able to compete as recovery accelerates, because they do not have the necessary capital infrastructure or working capital facilities.

“Matrix Solutions UK is in a high-turnover, low-margin sector, and is strongly associated with construction and retail, both industries which have suffered in the current recession.”