NEARLY 100 North-East workers have lost their jobs after December’s Arctic weather pushed one of the region’s biggest construction firms out of business.

Family-run John W&S Dorin, which traded under the name Dorin Construction, along with four associated businesses, has gone into administration with the immediate loss of 99 jobs.

The directors of the group, which had turnover of £16m last year, called in administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on Monday.

It is understood the company had struggled with difficult trading conditions last year, with last month’s atrocious weather pushing the firm over the edge.

The company, with both public and private sector clients, specialised in care homes, rehabilitation centres, school and hospital refurbishments, social housing and commercial developments.

Its public sector clients included Durham County Council and Darlington Borough Council, among other local authorities, with the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust also using the Newcastle firm’s services.

Joint administrator Toby Underwood, of PwC, said: “Like many businesses in the construction sector, the businesses have experienced difficult trading conditions throughout 2010 with margins coming under significant pressure.

“However the adverse weather in December has exacerbated the problems and has culminated in the directors concluding they had no option but to invite the appointment of administrators.”

Only four staff remain at the firm, but Mr Underwood said that he was attempting to secure a buyer for all or part of the businesses and its assets.

He added: “We have rapidly assessed the ability of the company to meet outstanding customer orders, but unfortunately have concluded that the financial position of the company means that the businesses are not in a position to do so and, consequently, a significant number of redundancies have been inevitable.”

The five separate parts of the group are John W&S Dorin Limited, D&K Transport and Leasing Limited, D&K Machinery and Plant Limited, Mast Electrical Limited and Development Partnerships North East Limited.

The companies were involved in four main areas of operation construction contracting, mechanical and engineering contracting, plant hire and property development.

The firm was set up by Ken Brown in 1981.