Ramsbottom & Co, a Southampton-based solicitors' firm, has slumped into liquidation, with directors blaming a downturn in the region’s housing market for the firm’s failure.

The firm began the liquidation process on January 11, 2012, with Alexander Kinninmonth and Duncan Beat, two directors at RSM Tenon appointed as joint liquidators.

Director Donald Ramsbottom has pointed to the region’s housing slump – which led to a drop in conveyancing fees, thus eating away at the company’s core business.

Alexander Kinninmonth said: “Over the past couple of years RSM Tenon has worked with other legal practices, and the pattern we see emerging is that companies which provide services directly to consumers, especially in the housing trade, are struggling. As a quick glance at the state of the retail industry will tell you, people currently can’t afford to spend as much as they could five or six years ago. This fact coupled with the lack of availability of mortgage finance means that many people are choosing not to sell their houses, and this spells trouble for the law firms that provide conveyancing services.”

Ramsbottom & Co Solicitors was incorporated in July 2007 and traded from premises in Seagrove Avenue, Hayling Island. The company provided mixed legal services encompassing private client services, including conveyancing, probate and will services.

Insolvency statistics by Tracker, RSM Tenon’s online monitoring system, indicates that two fifths of companies in the South East are free from the risk of insolvency, whilst 10% of companies in the region are experiencing financial difficulty. This shows a 3% drop from last year.