Highland civil engineering firm Daviot Group Limited (DGL) has collapsed, with the loss of all 31 jobs, it was confirmed yesterday.
The company delivered power cable installation, civil engineering infrastructure and utilities services from its base at Harbour Road, Inverness.
Gordon MacLure, restructuring partner at accountancy firm Johnston Carmichael, has been appointed provisional liquidator.
Mr McClure said the firm had encountered “some cash flow difficulties” during the current year.
He added: “The business was in the process of completing the final stages of a number of cable-laying contracts.
“It had been hoped that through negotiations with main contractors it could continue to operate until at least the end of the year, however, this was not possible.”
Accounts for DGL at Companies House show heavy losses last year. The pre-tax deficit came in at £2.3million, compared with profits of nearly £970,000 in 2015. Turnover crashed by 26% to £18.86million last year, from £25.5million previously.
Separate, consolidated accounts for Daviot Group Holdings show even bigger pre-tax losses of £3.5million last year, compared with profits of £1.5million in 2015.
They also reveal the group was sold last autumn, with Wyvis Holdings acquiring it from Singapore-based Fasih Rehman.
Documents lodged at Companies House show Wvis Holdings was incorporated on October 28, with director Rachel Limbrick having “significant control”. Ms Limbrick is named as one of two directors for Daviot Group Holdings in its accounts, alongside David Mitchell. The pair are also the only two directors listed for DGL.
A spokesman for Johnston Carmichael said the holding company itself was not in liquidation and neither was DGL’s sister company, Daviot Group Plant. Daviot Group, which last year described itself as one of the fastest-growing civil engineering businesses in the UK, had expanded its services in recent years to take in onshore wind, hydro schemes, transmission lines, roadworks and cabling.
Notable projects the company was involved in included the Beauly to Denny overhead power line, for which it laid more than 30 miles of access tracks and earthworks, while it also carried out infrastructure work for the University of the Highlands and Islands campus in Inverness, improvements at Gleneagles for the Ryder Cup golf tournament and upgrades at Inverness Airport.