Fountains, owned by institutional investors including Royal Bank of Scotland and Alchemy Partners since the September 2010 collapse of Connaught, called in administrators from BDO yesterday.
Some 153 of the job losses were in Norwich, where Fountains had a £4.6m a year contract with the city council to clean streets and maintain parks. There were also 139 job losses in Liverpool and 52 in Essex.
However, the bulk of the business was immediately sold by the administrators to OCS Group UK, saving 1,570 jobs.
Fountains began in 1957 as a forestry management company but has since grown to become a major local authority environmental services contractor.
BDO business restructuring partner Tony Nygate said: "We are pleased to have concluded the sale of the business to OCS Group, preserving more than 1,570 jobs. A sale of Fountains Group was the best option to secure the future of the business, which has been exposed to the difficult economic climate."
OCS Group UK managing director Martin Gammon said: “This is great news for everyone at OCS and a clear demonstration of our intention to further develop our strong position as a leading player in the UK FM market. By adding the Fountains brand and customer base to OCS, we will broaden our horticulture service offering to customers, whilst facilitating synergy with existing clients.”
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