More than 25 jobs have been lost after a long-established design company went into administration.

Bowes Design and Development, based at Priory Park, Mills Road, Aylesford, has been in business since 1970.

But administrators Pitman Cohen, based in Ruislip, Middlesex, were called in last week following financial problems. They declined to comment, except to confirm that the firm was in administration.

center>Key factor

Bowes, founded by David Bowes, specialises in creating transportation mock-ups. In 1999, it produced a full interior model of both decks of the Airbus A380 superjumbo aircraft to impress visitors to the Farnborough Air Show.

Bowes said Airbus was delighted by the quality and the “wow” of the finished article and claimed the decision to proceed with the project in December 2000 showed that its ability to provide a vision of the aircraft had been a key factor in the decision to go ahead with the product.

The company says it translates ideas of designers and engineers into a 3D reality. Its mock-ups and models are used in presentations, sign-offs, evaluation and crew training.

Before going into administration, the company reported annual sales of more than £2.5m. It recently expanded by moving to a new 20.000 sq ft office and factory at Mills Road with space to build full-scale mock-ups alongside the tooling and part production operations.