300 construction firms go under in the first quarter

More than 300 construction firms failed in the first quarter of this year, according to research by Experian.
Some 314 building and construction firms went to the wall between January and the end of March, and six building materials companies also collapsed.
In the same period last year, the figures were 323, a fall of 2.8%, and one respectively.
The number of engineering firms that failed was 180 compared to 186 in Q1 2003, a 3.2% drop.
Overall, the number of limited companies failing in the first quarter fell by 8% compared with Q1 2003.