Soaring costs and a lack of work have been blamed for sending under a scaffolding contractor that has been in business for more than 125 years.

Hertfordshire based Rodells has been trading since 1898 when it was founded by Leonard Rodell as a steeple-jacking company.

But the business fell into administration in March when all 37 staff were made redundant.

Administrators from FRP Advisory said “the pipeline had dramatically reduced on the scaffolding side of the business while the cost of materials had increased leading to severe cash flow pressures.”

Directors took out loans and stopped drawing wages in a bid to keep the business going but it was forced to cease trading while working on 15 live sites.

An update lodged at Companies House showed creditors were owed nearly £500,000 with former employees also owed £478,000.

The company operated a large scaffolding operation from its yard in London Colney offering scaffolding services for large commercial and industrial jobs across the country.