A 269-YEAR-OLD construction and restoration firm has warned it needs help to avert a cash crisis.

William Anelay Limited says difficulties with high-value projects have damaged finances.

Bosses are now proposing a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) with creditors to keep going.

The York-based operation has operated since 1747, with recent projects including the restoration of Roker Pier and lighthouse.

However, Charles Anelay, chairman and special projects director, who is the eighth generation of the Anelay family to work at the firm, said it is enduring a difficult period.

He has now put forward a CVA, wherein firms pay creditors a certain agreed percentage in the pound to stay in business, avoid administration and stave off the potential loss of skills.

He said: “While only a few projects outside our usual sphere have been involved, the values were significant and this has harmed our performance and cash flow.

“Unfortunately, we are unable to pay suppliers.

“We appreciate the need for a CVA will be a great disappointment to sub-contractors and suppliers, but this is the best way to make a maximum return to creditors.”

Mr Anelay said the firm, which employs nearly 200 staff across a number of associated businesses, is usually profitable, revealing it has secured more than £30m of work this year and has £12m of orders for 2017/2018.

He added its associated businesses, which include Lowery Roofing and Anelay Traditional Masonry, are trading as normal.

Anelay is being advised by Newtons Solicitors, which has offices across North Yorkshire, and business advisors RMT, in Newcastle, which has written to creditors to propose the CVA.

Its work on Roker Pier included cleaning the lighthouse and repairing brass windows, while it previously carried out roofing repairs to Bowes Museum, in Barnard Castle, County Durham.

The business has also featured in BBC Two show, Hairy Builders, which looked at some of the UK’s oldest and most architecturally complex large buildings.