The Enquirer revealed last week that R&W was in talks with a potential buyer and had filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator.

Octavius has now finalised a deal for the firm after it went into administration.

Private equity owned Octavius was formerly known as Osborne Infrastructure.

Octavius said the “acquisition aims to ensure, wherever possible, continuity for R&W employees, customers, and supply chain alike.”

It added: “Octavius is committed to ensuring a smooth transition for all, minimising disruption as far as is possible.”

John Dowsett, CEO Octavius said: “R&W is an organisation that we had identified in our acquisition strategy some time ago as a great fit both culturally and in terms of their complimentary capability.

“Securing this acquisition supports our ambitious growth plans to become a market leading transport infrastructure provider.

“Whilst we would clearly like to have taken over the business in different circumstances, we are delighted to be able to step in to support existing customers and protect people’s livelihoods.

“The combined offering of Octavius and R&W has the capability to both self-deliver and integrate an SME supply chain to deliver a broad range of highway and civils projects for a variety of customers; from small reactive responses to large major projects, regionally and nationally, safely delivering these with a consistent collaborative approach that is underpinned by our aligned core values.”

Latest accounts for R&W Civil Engineering for the year to March 31 2022 show a turnover of £31.8m generating a pre-tax profit of £876,000.