AN Oban-based construction firm has gone into administration after running into cash flow problems arising from the coronavirus pandemic.

Twenty staff have been made redundant after Neil McGougan Limited, believed to be the biggest construction firm in the Argyll and Bute town, ceased trading with immediate effect.

It ran into severe cash difficulties following restrictions on activity imposed to halt the spread of the coronavirus, including the shutdown of construction sites.

The family-owned firm was established in 1986 and provided a range of housebuilding and general construction services to clients across Argyll and Bute and the West Highlands.

Joint administrators Derek Forsyth and Blair Milne, of accountancy firm Campbell Dallas, are now seeking buyers for the company’s assets, which include plant, equipment and vehicles.

Mr Forsyth said: “Neil McGougan Limited was a long-established and highly respected local construction firm. 

“The directors did everything possible to keep the business trading, however the scale of cash flow problems and the impact of the lockdown left them with no alternative other than to place the business in administration. 

“We will now focus on winding up the business and providing as much help as possible for the employees and will be liaising with all relevant agencies such as the Redundancy Payments Office and PACE, on their behalf.”