One of the biggest and most well-known businesses in the Whitchurch area has been placed into administration, with 83 jobs out of 420 lost.

Hawk Hire Limited, on the A49 in Prees, is one of the largest independent plant hire companies in the UK but a team from Ernst & Young (EY) was appointed this week to oversee a sale.

Sam Woodward, from EY, said the company has suffered from historic contract problems and delays in new work coming in.

“The Group’s cashflow had been impacted by a number of historical problematic contracts and a delay in the commencement of anticipated projects," said Woodward.

"Coupled with this, the Group’s funding structure, with significant hire purchase and finance lease commitments put pressure on the cashflow at a time that asset utilisation was comparatively low.

"It is with regret that 83 people have been made redundant. Our specialist team will work with those affected to help them claim outstanding wages and other payments due from the Redundancy Payments Office.”

Woodward is joined by Alex Williams and Hunter Kelly from EY’s restructuring team.

Hawk posted a turnover of £93.5m in the financial year to the end of December 2017.

It has more than 40 years of experience in the plant hire industry, with its customer base primarily spanning the infrastructure, energy and homebuilding markets.

Subsidiary Enverity Ltd, a ground survey and sight inspection business based in Newark, which employs an additional 20 plus staff, remains solvent and unaffected by the administration.

Woodward continued: “We will now begin the process of seeking to find a suitable buyer for Hawk, to ensure the best possible outcome for all of the Group’s stakeholders. In the meantime, we will seek to minimise the impact on the customer base by keeping assets on hire and maintaining service levels.”

Any parties interested in acquiring the Group or its subsidiaries should contact the joint administrators.