Bid-rigging: Thomas Fish has debts of over £5m

Nottinghamshire-based Thomas Fish, one of the companies alleged to have been involved in anti-competitive tendering practices by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), has debts of more than £5m, its administrators say.

The firm dropped into administration on Monday, just days after the OFT published the names of 112 companies it alleges are involved in either cover pricing or bid-rigging.

Administrator Mazars said that, "significant cash flow problems were to blame. In particular, one client withholding a £1.4m bill was one of the main reasons for the firm's demise."

Eighty-five staff have been made redundant so far but it is thought that the business can still be sold as a going concern.

No-one at Nottinghamshire-based Thomas Fish was available to comment.