A KEIGHLEY-based company has gone into administration with the loss of 27 jobs.

Administrators appointed to Gin Festival Limited said the firm, founded in 2013, had encountered financial difficulties after investing heavily in expanding its online presence.

They said the business had attempted to bring online ticket sales for its events in-house and set-up an e-commerce operation selling craft gins direct to customers, both of which increased financial pressures.

The company, which traded as GinFestival.com, organised and managed craft gin festivals across the UK.

A programme of 20 planned festivals for the coming months has been cancelled.

Insolvency firm Begbies Traynor said that despite marketing GinFestival.com with the aim of finding a buyer, no offers were forthcoming and a closure administration had taken immediate effect.

Begbies Traynor's Julian Pitts, who with Nick Reed has been appointed joint administrator, said: "It's a huge shame that Gin Festival.com has been placed in administration.

"A loss of jobs is always extremely disappointing and in this case approximately 20,000 tickets have also been sold for forthcoming events which will not be reimbursed as part of the administration process.

"Anyone who has purchased tickets for any of the events organised by GinFestival.com would be best advised to check with their credit or debit card provider as to whether they may be covered for the loss under the Chargeback system.

"Our aim was to find a purchaser for the business as a going concern in order to safeguard the jobs, but unfortunately – despite our efforts – this did not prove possible.

"We are now in the process of realising what assets we can in order to achieve the best possible returns for creditors."