Administrators are continuing to try and save a Midlands components firm which collapsed last week.
TW Lench - Thomas William Lench - a supplier of bolts and nuts to both the automotive and construction sectors for over a century, crashed into administration.
Birmingham-based corporate recovery specialist Begbies Traynor was appointed on behalf of the directors of the company that employs 42 people at Rowley Regis.
It has "a substantial manufacturing capability and a skilled, dedicated workforce".
Begbies said the business had suffered the effects of steel price rises and the disruption caused by an unexpectedly protracted relocation exercise from former premises - the company opened its new £1 million factory in 2004.
All this had contributed to cash flow difficulties.
It added: "Trading is continuing with support from customers and suppliers and there are a number of parties expressing interest.
"The administrators hope this will lead to a sale of the business as a going concern, thus preserving jobs and the 'Admiral' brand, which the company has used for years."
Lench once had 1,850 employees. However, during the 1980s it went through a series of redundancies and numbers crashed.
Once a substantial exporter, it was a previous winner of the Birmingham Post Business Awards.
Its failure follows hard on the heels of Eliza Tinsley in a double blow to West Midlands manufacturing.
