A construction firm in Cheshire has collapsed into liquidation with the loss of around 60 jobs, as fresh pressures bear down on the struggling building sector. Staff at the long-established business were told earlier this week that it intended to appoint administrators. Just days later, they were informed the company would instead be wound up and their employment terminated with immediate effect.

The company, Gilks (Nantwich), a mechanical and electrical engineering contractor based in Nantwich, has been trading for more than six decades. It reported turnover of about £11 million last year, a significant fall from £15 million the previous year. Employees say they were first alerted to the firm’s financial difficulties during a Microsoft Teams call on Monday.

One insider said: “The first we knew was on Monday when we had a teams call with the MD who informed us the company was applying to go in to administration and to carry on working as normal as nothing has changed.

“Then today (Wednesday) we all had another Teams call to inform us the company was being liquidated and we no longer had a job and would not be getting paid this was very upsetting.”

The worker added that he had been expecting seven weeks’ pay – five weeks owed for last month and a further two weeks for the current month – when he was told the business would close.

The firm is owned by Ethikos Group, a Deeside-based acquirer of engineering companies, which bought the Nantwich contractor in 2020, Construction Enquirer reported. 

The collapse comes amid mounting strain across the UK construction industry. Contractors have been grappling with rising material and labour costs, tighter margins, delayed projects and ongoing economic uncertainty, leaving many businesses vulnerable. Industry bodies have warned that insolvencies in the sector remain elevated compared with pre-pandemic levels, with smaller regional firms particularly exposed.