Rochdale-based Dale Joinery has gone into administrative receivership reportedly owing millions of pounds.
The company, which employs 195 people at its Queensway site and a further 64 at Lichfield in the West Midlands, broke the news to staff on Monday.
Administrative receivers Ernst & Young said the company had run into problems because of slow trade in recent months and after a failed attempt to sell the business.
It aims to sell the company as a going concern, but job losses are anticipated.
In 2000, Dale was acquired by the Brand Holdings Group which aimed to create a diversified buildings products business. Brand forecast its first year turnover at £35m.
Ernst & Young said that Brand Holdings’ other subsidiaries door panel maker APP and door manufacturer Bridgman IBC are not affected by the receivership and are continuing to trade as normal.
British Woodworking Federation director Richard Lambert said that his feedback from the UK joinery sector was that “the market is very strong, but that conditions are intensely competitive”.
