Matt Howard and David Merrygold of PKF have been appointed joint administrators of East Anglian building company J S Hay Ltd.

The business, which trades under the name J S Hay Construction, mainly provides building and joinery services to local authorities and housing associations. It also does work for private clients ranging from new builds to complete renovations.

PKF partner and joint administrator Howard said: 'The depressed state of the construction sector generally has had a detrimental effect on J S Hay's current financial position. This was compounded by some significant bad debts in recent months.'

Howard said the administrators are reviewing the available options which could include selling at least part of the business as a going concern, as well as the sale of specific assets including the business premises and equipment. However he warned that it was 'inevitable' that there will be redundancies at the firm, which has been in business for over 50 years.