Peter Dewey and David Hill of Begbies Traynor, based at the Cardiff office, have been appointed joint administrators of S Dudley & Sons Ltd, a Welsh construction company which had several major high street retailers as clients.

The company, based in Newport, was established in 1920 and has worked for a number of years for companies such as Tesco, Sainsbury's, Aldi and Waitrose. The directors said the business had suffered a sustained period of difficult trading in which margins had been increasingly depressed. The company had previously announced that job losses were likely among the 43-strong workforce.

A standalone company established in 1993, called Dudley's Aluminium Ltd is unaffected by the closure of S Dudley & Sons. This operation employs 42 staff.

Peter Dewey, partner at Begbies Traynor, said: 'S Dudley & Sons Ltd is yet another victim of the continuing difficulties in the construction sector.'