A CENTURY-old Bradford engineering firm has been placed into administration with the loss of more than 100 jobs.

Joint administrators Howard Smith and Jonny Marston were appointed to oversee assets and business operations at Ormandy Rycroft, in Duncombe Road, on February 5.

The company is a leading provider of offsite and heat exchange solutions for the construction, engineering and offshore sectors.

With 135 employees, Ormandy traded from two leasehold properties in Bradford and Halifax and operated from a sales office in Dubai, UAE.

Upon appointment of the administrators, 105 members of staff were made redundant, the majority from the Bradford site.

Thirty members of staff have been retained to progress remaining work at the two sites while the joint administrators seek a sale of the business and assets of the company.

Howard Smith, Joint Administrator and Associate Partner at KPMG, said: “Ormandy worked hard to rebuild its order book after a period of soft trading 18 months ago. “Unfortunately, continued losses have led to this administration.

“We have retained a number of employees to complete certain contracts and would invite any parties interested in taking over the business to make contact.

“In the meantime, we are supporting the affected employees through this difficult period.”

Rycroft began operation in the late 1800s and was a specialist in producing water heating and chilling equipment.

It has supplied its equipment all over the world and in 1999 provided custom-built plate heat exchanger sets for Hong Kong’s Regal Airport Hotel on the island of Chek Lap Kok.

The innovative system used sea water in its operations and was built using titanium to avoid rust and corrosion.

In 2004 the company also inked a deal to carry out work on the new Wembley stadium, as well as beginning work to produce domestic hot and cold fresh water systems for the Royal Navy.

Since 2000 the business had been owned by the Baxi Heating UK group but as the commercial water heating market became increasingly competitive, Baxi sold Rycroft to Halifax firm Ormandy in 2007.

At the time Baxi said it had reviewed its product offering and cost base and decided to sell the business to focus on core commercial activities.

New owners Ormandy continued to operate from the 3.5 acre site, complete with 5,500 sq metre production centre, and kept the 89 employees.

At the time of the buy-out of Rycroft, Paul Cooper, founder and managing director of Ormandy, said: “This is a very positive move for everyone associated with the two companies.”

The previous year, 2006, had seen Ormandy turning over more than £5 million.