THE two New Forest offices of an upmarket estate agency are among those to have been saved after it went into administration.

Penyards, which specialised in selling homes with seven-figure price tags, went into administration owing more than £1million.

But Penyards Country Properties Ltd has now been taken over by No.17 Marketing, one of whose directors is Paul Grant, managing partner of Southampton law firm Bernard Chill & Axtell.

Administrators Begbies Traynor handled a “pre-packaged” sale of the firm and its assets for £180,000. The new owners will trade as Penyards but have not taken on the old firm’s debts.

According to the administrator’s report, it was Mr Grant who first contacted them to discuss Penyards’ financial position The new Penyards advertising states that the company is in partnership with Bernard Chill & Axtell.

Graham and Lisa Evans, the founders of Penyards, who live in Downton in the New Forest, are to be retained as consultants.

The jobs of the 32 Penyards staff at eight Hampshire offices, including Fordingbridge and Lyndhurst, have been saved.

HM Revenue and Customs are the biggest creditor of Penyards with the taxman out of pocket to the tune of £422,000.

Other creditors included Lloyds Bank which is owed £232,000.

Lloyds, as the only secured creditor, were consulted by the administrators about the sale and did not raise any objections. Begbies Traynor’s report suggests an anticipated return to Lloyds of just £65,000 to £75,000.

Other creditors include Faraeham Borough Council (£4,004), Test Valley Borough Council which is owed almost £11,000 in rates, accountants Wilkins Kennedy (£18,282) and the Echo’s parent company Newsquest.

Penyards recorded an operating loss of £131,000 at the end of 2014 and Gavin Savage, director of Begbies Traynor’s Southampton office said that following the crash of 2008 Penyards had been hit by increased competition, lower fees and on line marketing.

Mr Savage said: “The company had been facing tough trading conditions in a sector we all recognise has continued to struggle, so it was therefore imperative that we acted quickly in order to ensure that people’s jobs were preserved.

“It became apparent to us that the Penyards name trades on its reputation as a long-established business in the area and that a speedy sale out of administration was the best course of action. We had to go through quite a complicated process to get to the right end result, but we are confident that the purchaser has the skills and team in place to ensure growth for the future and to establish the basis for a prosperous long-term future for the company.”

A spokesman for HMRC, the largest creditors, said they did not discuss individual cases, but added: “We don’t just let a debt lie particularly such a large amount.

“Every case is followed and an attempt is made to get as much back into the public purse as possible.”