Miller Metcalfe Surveyors LTD has been sold by administrators.

Connells Group, a national estate agency, has bought the business and assets of the company which will now trade as Connells Survey & Valuation.

The surveyor’s arm of the Bolton estate agents went into administration 18 months ago, with Julien Irving and Andrew Poxon of Leonard Curtis Business Rescue and Recovery appointed as administrators in August 2018.

A spokeswoman for Connells Group said: “We confirm we have acquired the business and assets of Miller Metcalf Surveyors Ltd from its administrators, which safeguards the jobs of all Miller Metcalf Surveyors’ people and we welcome them to the business.

“This acquisition supports Connells Survey & Valuation’s ongoing expansion plans and further strengthens our customer service capabilities.”

The company did not confirm how many jobs had been saved by the purchase.

This comes after the Bolton surveyors, registered in June 2018 at Manchester Road, Westhoughton, faced a hearing at the High Court on January 15 after being served with a petition to wind up the company.

Documents from the Insolvency and Companies List have been seen by The Bolton News, claiming the firm owed “the Petitioners” more than £386,000.

The Bolton News believes that the petition was made by HMRC – included in this sum is a £723.24 penalty for failure to pay Income Tax Pay As You Earn deductions on time.

In December, people claiming to work for the company took to social media to ask their friends for help with job hunting, saying they had been made redundant just weeks before Christmas.

The Bolton News was informed that three offices were closing, with the Farnworth, Hindley, and Westhoughton branches all set to shut their doors.

These three branches are still listed on the Miller Metcalfe website, but the addresses match those of the Bolton, Culcheth, and Horwich branches respectively.

The former site of the Farnworth office has also been visited on numerous occasions, and has been shut each time.

Miller Metcalfe Bolton LTD was incorporated on November 1 at the office in Manchester Road, Westhoughton, under Mr Arthur Fletcher – with three similar companies with the same information appearing for Bury, Salford, and Wigan.

It is unclear whether Miller Metcalfe Commercial LTD, or Miller Metcalfe Estate Agents LTD will be affected, as the company has declined to comment on the petition, redundancies, or the sale of its surveying arm.