The announcement that a family-run company in Co Armagh has been placed in administration after operating successfully for almost a century was a depressing comment on the state of our economy.
Maurice Stevenson Limited, a mechanical installation firm employing 33 staff, was founded in Lurgan in 1921 and has been managed by three generations of the same family.
It must be hoped that attempts to find a buyer and prevent the permanent closure of the business, which provides a range of services to the public sector, are successful.
However, the sad reality is that trading conditions for many outlets, whether they are newly launched or long established, remain very difficult.
