ESSEX electrical company Ruddocks has gone into administration with the loss of 35 jobs.
ESSEX electrical company Ruddocks has gone into administration with the loss of 35 jobs.
A total of 21 staff at the Brightlingsea-based firm - which was established 82 years ago and last year had a turnover of more than £2million - have already left and the remaining jobs will go at the end of this month.
John Murphy, Ruddocks' contracts manager, described the outcome as “a very sad day” and said the closure was due to external factors.
“Our demise was brought about due to difficulties obtaining money owed to the company from two major contracts, which badly affected our cash-flow position,” he said.
“Although every avenue was explored to weather the storm the ultimate sad decision was to put the company into administration. It really is an end of an era.”
David Merrygold, of accountants and business advisers PKF East Anglia, who was appointed as administrator, added: “We examined the company's affairs but regrettably there is no possibility of it being saved. The directors had no option but to close the business.”
In its early years, Ruddocks worked for the Ministry of Defence and the Admiralty but it later expanded into the commercial sector, carrying out electrical installations.
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