Solar heating firm in difficulty

Thermomax has won a number of enterprise awards

A Bangor company employing 185 people has gone into administration.

Thermomax, which makes solar heating systems, has run into financial problems and administrators are in talks with potential buyers.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers spokesman said no immediate job losses are expected and the firm is due to reopen on Monday following the July holidays.

Founded in 1980, Thermomax won a prestigious Queen's Award for Enterprise in 2001.

The trade minister at the time, Sir Reg Empey, said Thermomax had established a position as the market leader in renewable energy, "a strategically important sector which will grow strongly in the years ahead".

It has a second factory in Wales employing 85 people.