Administrators from Grant Thornton UK LLP are now in charge of eight divisions of the group – including the main trading entities of Pochin’s Ltd, Pochin Construction Ltd and six other subsidiaries.

The Cheshire based firm was founded in the 1930s and was a familiar name on sites across the North West.

Grant Thornton said the business had been dragged down by legacy issues from earlier contracts which “became too great a burden leading to difficult trading conditions.”

The new management team explored a number of options to keep the company afloat including injections of significant levels of capital from shareholders and the sale of the group’s property portfolio.

But Grant Thornton said: “Despite these efforts, the impact of the challenges have proven insurmountable and the difficult decision was reached by the directors to place a number of entities in the group into administration.

“This includes the main trading entities of Pochin’s Ltd, Pochin Construction Ltd and six other subsidiaries.”

Joint administrator Sarah O’Toole said: “Whilst it is very early days, this may result in a number of redundancies and the companies ceasing to trade, the joint administrators will continue to review options to ensure the best possible outcome for creditors.”

The Enquirer was contacted by a series of stunned subcontractors on Monday morning who had been turned away from sites.

Last year Pochin’s construction arm lost £6.2m on £50m revenue after being hit by a single loss-making contract in Manchester.

It is understood to have been in talks with developer De Trafford over final settlement of the City Gardens residential scheme, which is now finished.