A BUILDING company in Paignton with a £2.6million turnover is poised to go into liquidation with the loss of 16 jobs.

The offices of Fraser Langdon, in Hyde Road, are closed and Exeter-based accountant Stephen Hobson, of Francis Clarke, says he is assisting directors to put the business into liquidation.

He said a creditors meeting is due to be held in Exeter on Friday to put the company into liquidation.

Mr Hobson said: "It has a turnover of £2.6million a year which makes it quite a substantial business.

"I have met with the directors once and a decision was taken to put the company into liquidation.

"The 15 or 16 employees were made redundant last week. They are office staff and tradesmen."

Paignton business leader Matthew Clarke, who runs Torbay Book Shop, said: "It is a horrible thing to happen and very sad for those people caught up in it.

"It is a indication of how the economy is but it does not mean Paignton is going down the tubes.

"There are other businesses opening up in the town and there are some positive indications with the economy, so it is not all doom and gloom."

The Fraser Langdon website says the company operated within Torbay, Exeter, South Hams and Plymouth with the capability to carry out work throughout the country.

The website says the company was formed in 1996 after a management buyout by the directors of the regional office of Fraser Langdon Design Ltd.

The site says: "This company had been operating from the centre of Paignton since 1991 with a turnover in the region of £2million.

"This was made up from work all over the southern part of the country ranging as far afield as London, Plymouth, Cardiff and Norwich."

It had a maintenance contract for Nortel Networks when the optical giant was based in Paignton.

"Since forming Fraser Langdon Southern Ltd the company has concentrated on carrying out contracts in the Torbay, Exeter and Plymouth areas to establish the company and our contacts in the local area," says the website.

"We are now actively seeking work throughout the whole of the South West, we now have new premises with additional staff, our turnover last year was more than £1million. We expect to more than double our business this year."