Petworth builders to cease trading
The boss of a prominent family-owned builders firm at Petworth, which has folded after more than 40 years, is said to be 'gutted' by its fate.
W&A Baxter ceased trading earlier this month with the loss of nearly 40 jobs.
The firm employed 37 people in total, including five office staff, most of them from the Midhurst and Petworth area.
It is now in administration and its affairs are being wound up by Portland, a leading business rescue and insolvency firm at Fareham, Hampshire.
W&A Baxter was founded around 1967 by Wallace Baxter, now 76. The business has been run for a number of years by his son, Sandy.
James Tickell, the administrator at Portland appointed to deal with the firm's affairs, said this week: "It is all very painful for the two partners, father and son. Sandy is gutted.
"Baxters was a good-quality builder offering a good-quality service.
"What has happened is probably down to pricing and the economic climate. We are handling matters for a number of construction companies at the moment," Mr Tickell said.
The business, which was a partnership and not a limited company, was going into a winding-up process, with creditors to be paid.
"We are not expecting to sell it as a going concern,"
Mr Tickell said. "We are trying to maximise as much as we can from the work which has been taken on. There is only one contract of any merit on the go, which is a house-build in Sussex.
"The customer has taken it on himself, under his management."
W&A Baxter's reputation for high-quality work earned it major contracts on properties owned by the wealthy and organisations such as the National Trust.
Its fleet of vans were a regular sight around the Midhurst and Petworth area.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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