The collapse of an Adlington haulage firm has left 110 workers jobless.
F Swain and Sons, which started life collecting milk churns in Prestbury in 1922, has gone into administration, making all staff redundant.
Bosses at the Adlington Business Estate firm, on London Road, announced on Monday the business was closing down.
The company blamed tough trading conditions and the loss of two major contracts for its demise. Finance director Andy Powell said: "It’s very sad – the company has been around since 1922.
"The downturn in business and the loss of big customers affected us.
"It has been tough over the last 18 months and sometimes we would break even but we could lose anything from £2,000 to £80,000 in one month."
As a result turnover fell from around a high of £17m three years ago to around £10m this year, with a knock-on effect on profitability.
Management at the firm attempted to save the famous company by reducing its fleet and introducing two pay cuts. Staff took pay cuts totalling 20 per cent over the past year.
Andy added: "We brought in people from BDO (the firm’s accounts) to assess the business over the last week but things were looking pretty grim and the bank wouldn’t go any further in terms of lending.
"It’s a shame because we’ve gone from being one of the top 100 transport companies to where we are now."
F Swain and Sons was started by Frederick Swain in 1922 in Prestbury.
During the early years he and son Harry collected milk churns from farms and put them on trains departing for markets in Manchester.
The firm later moved its head office to London Road, with depots in Ashton-Under-Lyne, Bristol and Warrington.
