Civil engineer and groundwork specialist Britin Construction has gone into receivership, with the loss of 150 jobs.

Britin, which was working on a number of prestigious projects including St Paul’s Cathedral and Dulwich College, called in an administrator after suffering cash flow problems. The firm had about 30 active contracts throughout the South-east.

Administrator Pam Erny, of BN Jackson Norton, said Britin’s problems had been exacerbated when HM Revenue & Customs withdrew its CIS registration.

She said: “The Revenue’s decision came on top of problems with subcontractors’ cheques bouncing and the firm could not continue.”

Erny added that the receiver was not looking to sell the firm. She said: “Initially we wanted to save the company and had the backing of key clients, but the workers wanted short-term guarantees over arrears which we could not give them. They refused to work so we could not continue with the contracts.”

Britin had a turnover of £8.4m in its last available results, for the year to 31 March 2005. It suffered a loss of £42,502 that year, compared with a £89,103 profit in 2004.

Topics