THE shutters have come down on a Hampshire fish farm that was one of the largest in Europe.
New Forest Barramundi's headquarters, near Lymington, was today locked up and deserted.
The farm, a former pizza factory at Gordleton Industrial Park, shut down after its owners, London-based Aquabella Group, filed for administration.
It had opened in 2006 with the aim of supplying 400 tonnes of Australian barramundi to the UK annually.
The company even landed a contract with John Lewis to supply the fish to its Waitrose chain of supermarkets.
However the firm had been in financial difficulties for months.
In March Aquabella Group confirmed it was under pressure on the financial investors website Digital Look.
The following month a further statement revealed that company had appointed administrators "after carefully considering the financial position of the company".
Renowned as one of the world's great eating fish, barramundi had never taken off in the UK because of the 12,000-mile journey from its natural habitat to Britain.
