Aberdeen's Findlay Clark Landscapes goes into liquidation.

One of Scotland s leading independent landscaping businesses, Findlay Clark Landscapes (Aberdeen), has been placed in liquidation. The company, which had a turnover of around 1.5m and 31 full- and part-time staff, was hit by the recession and a shortage of skilled staff. The business has stopped trading and all staff have been made redundant. Provisional liquidator Iain Fraser, a director of recovery with RSM Tenon in Aberdeen, said: "The company has a strong brand, an excellent client base and a very good reputation for the quality of its work across the north east of Scotland. "But it has been severely affected by a shortage of skilled staff as well as suffering, like many in this sector, from the retentions which are held by building companies and the recession. We are marketing the brand, goodwill and assets for sale." Fraser said 20 per cent of turnover came from snow clearance and last winter was very mild. Meanwhile oil was a big regional employer and highly paid work on offshore rigs drew employmet away from the landscape sector leading to skills shortages. The landscaping business, launched 12 years ago following the sale of the Findlay Clark Garden Centre business to Dobbies, offered garden design, landscaping and maintenance services to blue chip residential, commercial and public sector clients. RSM Tenon said it was still gathering information on the amount of debt and creditors. But the directors, led by Robin Clark, had invested heavily in the company and there were no banks involved. Interested parties should contact RSM Tenon s Aberdeen office on 01224 562280.

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