THE Liverpool office of accountants Grant Thornton has been appointed as the administrator to national charity The Civic Trust.

The 52-year-old organisation, which has offices in Liverpool and London, represented more than 700 civic societies across England.

It was well known for its annual Civic Trust Awards which recognised outstanding projects in everything from architecture to public art.

The organisation, whose president is TV presenter Griff Rhys Jones, has blamed lack of funding and the “squeeze on local authority spending” for its troubles.

Grant Thornton said 12 staff had been made redundant.

Insolvency partner Matt Dunham has been appointed joint administrator with Les Ross and said: “The organisation recently lost two major contracts which subsequently resulted in it being placed in administration.

“Our main aim now is to ensure a smooth transfer of the charity’s main programmes to other charitable organisations.

“We want to speak to any other groups or charities who believe they can help us make sure The Civic Trust’s core objectives are continued in the future.”