A Lanarkshire contractor which provides road signage and barriers has been placed into administration with the loss of 119 jobs across sites in Scotland and England.
Apex Traffic Management Limited, which is based in Uddingston, ceased trading after a petition by its directors to Hamilton Sheriff Court.
The firm primarily provided traffic control equipment and services for roadworks, and its customers included Transport Scotland, Highways England and Amey Construction.
In recent years it expanded to provide traffic management services to venues including Hamilton and Ayr racecourses and the 2024 Open golf championship at Royal Troon.
The firm also operated more than 150 sets of roadwork traffic lights.
The joint administrators, who were appointed on Thursday, and Thomas McKay, a partner at Begbies Traynor, will now supervise the consultation process with staff.
They will also oversee the liquidation of the business and its assets.
Mr McKay said the directors had little choice but to place the business into administration after receiving a petition by HMRC for liquidation.
He added: “Tightening margins, slower debt recovery and resulting cash flow challenges, as well as increased costs of trading, especially higher minimum wage and Employers’ National Insurance Contributions, had led to the firm being unable to meet its ongoing obligations and the business was simply not viable.”
Mr McKay said he was working closely with Apex’s customers to help them find alternative suppliers and ensure “safe operation of the highways”.
The administrators are working with the employees and Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) to ensure the affected employees receive their full redundancy entitlements.
It is also hoped the majority of staff being made redundant may quickly be re-employed in the sector.