The company, which had been facing financial difficulties, tried to arrange a voluntary agreement with creditors, but went into administration when HMRC applied for a winding up order, administrators KPMG said.
A KPMG spokesperson confirmed local news reports that there had been significant interest in the sale and several potential buyers had come forward.
Mark Firmin, joint administrator and regional head of restructuring at KPMG, said: "The business has been impacted by weak trading conditions across the sector which has led to cash pressures. Ultimately an inability to pay last month’s wage bill and the issuing of a winding up petition by HMRC have resulted in Thompsons entering administration."
Eighty people have been made redundant while 20 remained temporarily to assist the administrators to market the business and assets. Thompson, which was based is Sunderland, had four builders merchant sites and six TAPS outlets.
A Thompson & Sons, which trades as Thompson Building Centres and TAPS plumbing centres, reported turnover of £16.5m in 2011 and a pre-tax loss of £537,000.
