Coombs (Canterbury) Limited is now in the hands of White Maund Insolvency Practitioners Limited.

A White Maund statement said: “The company historically had its head office in Canterbury and had been successful throughout the  county of Kent building an excellent reputation over its many years of trading.

“Coombs employees mostly lived in East Kent and the majority had many years of loyal service.

“Subcontractors and suppliers to the Company were also locally based and as such supported the local  economy both by way of employment for local workers and in the many structures built in Canterbury  and throughout Kent.

“The directors would like it to be known that they greatly appreciated the support of its employees,  subcontractors and suppliers over the many years of trading.

“Over the course of the last year the trading position of the company deteriorated a situation that was  exacerbated by the pandemic.

“The directors had been seeking investment to enable the company to  trade on but it was not until the end of October 2020 that the investors confirmed they would not  proceed.

“The directors then took specialist advice and were advised that the company should cease  trading and be placed in administration.”

Latest accounts filed at Companies House for the year to July 31 2018 show Coombs had a turnover of £16m generating pre-tax profits of £88,900.

The contractor employed 66 full-time staff during that year.

Coombs has worked across the South East for more than 50 years in a variety of sectors including education, housing, healthcare, leisure; industrial and commercial.

The firm recently won a coveted place on the £2bn Hyde Group housing association main contractor framework for projects in Kent between £5m and £10m.