A PLUMBING and heating merchant has gone out of business, blaming a range of factors including a post-Brexit slump in demand.

Rockett Plumbing and Heating Supplies, which has been on Wimborne Road, Moordown, for five years, has ceased trading with the loss of 15 jobs.

A second branch in Poole was closed earlier this year, putting five people out of work.

Boss Steve Rockett said cash flow had been under “severe pressure” and the business had fallen victim to bad debts.

But he said last year’s referendum on EU membership had been followed by a fall in demand.

“It’s people’s perception and they will delay making large ticket items. They will keep a hold of their money until they’re more confident of what’s happening,” he said.

“After Brexit, for the first three weeks there was no difference. Then there was a three to four week period where everything went absolutely dead, to the point I could probably have operated on 10 per cent of the staff.”

Business had picked up after that but had still been tough. “At the same time, I had quite a lot of personal stuff going on,” he said.

The Poole branch had been performing poorly, he said.

“We made some changes at the beginning of this year. Those had a marked effect. We managed to get quite a dramatic turnaround in sales and efficiency, but due to the combined effect of all the various circumstances, we made the decision part way through April to close the branch and lay off the staff that were there in order to dramatically reduce overheads,” he added.

He said the snap general election would cause further uncertainty. “That will have the result of snapping wallets and purses closed. That has an immediate effect and it will take quite a long time to work back through the system and come out the other end,” he said.

Insolvency adviser Mark Liddle, who is liquidating the company, said: “The company went through a period of losing quite a substantial amount of money. We think the other reason is Brexit. "I’ve seen so many companies go since Brexit came in. I think we’re in very strange times.”

He said HSBC had been “extremely supportive” during the administration.

Mr Rockett, who said he had been in the industry since helping his dad at the age of five, is to manage City Plumbing Supplies in Francis Avenue, Bournemouth.