A HAMPSHIRE construction company has ceased trading with the loss of 20 jobs after revealing it was owed more than £400,000 by another firm.

Facade and Cladding Engineering (FACE) has closed its doors three years after a similar company, run by some of the same people and based in the same offices, also went out of business.

FACE occupied part of a two-storey building on the Abbey Park Industrial Estate in Romsey.

Daily Echo:

Managing director Dorian Lawrence blamed the company’s demise on another firm, saying it was owed more than £400,000 after carrying out work for which it had not been paid.

But Mr Lawrence declined to identify the firm or the building at the centre of the dispute.

He said: “We are only a small company and to us £400,000 is a massive amount of money. We don’t even make that in a year.

“We’ve had a really tough time of it and are absolutely gutted that we’ve had to make 20 people redundant.”

The company’s affairs have been placed in the hands of Southampton-based insolvency experts CVR Global.

Daily Echo:

Spokesman Steve Ramsbottom said: “The business was experiencing cash flow problems because of a sizeable overdue payment from a contractor. Unfortunately, the business couldn’t afford to wait any longer and had to cease trading.

“It was reluctantly decided that the best course of action would be to place the business into liquidation.”

Romsey and Southampton North MP Caroline Nokes, pictured, added: “It’s hugely disappointing to see any local business close its doors.

“I was very impressed with Dorian and the team at FACE when I met them last year. I know how hard they worked to build their business.”

Mr Lawrence was one of the people who ran cladding and facade specialists LSC, which was based in the same building but also had a factory in Andover and employed about 150 people.

But Mr Lawrence told the Daily Echo that he left LSC eight months before it ceased trading.