Wrightbus, the Northern Ireland-based company that produced London's distinctive red buses, has entered administration, making 1,200 workers redundant.

Unions will now talk with the company's administrators, Deloitte, in an effort to find a solution for workers. Jackie Pollock, of the Unite union, appealed to UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, to "do everything in your power" to keep Wrightbus open.  

The company became linked with Johnson in 2012 when, as Mayor of London, he commissioned from them a fleet of New Routemasters – the iconic red London buses. They were updated with a notable diagonal window design, following the line of the stairs and became known as "Boris buses." 

In 2016, Johnson held a press conference and photo opportunity at the Wrightbus factory. Earlier this month, responding as the Prime Minister to questions raised in the House of Commons about the company's troubles, Johnson insisted: "I give my assurance, we will do everything we can to ensure the future of that great UK company."

Wrightbus, which is based in Ballymena has been in business for nearly 70 years and is the last major employer left in the Country Antrim town. Its parent company, the Cornerstone Group, made a pre-tax profit of almost £11m ($13.6m) in 2016, but posted a loss of $2.1m in 2017. 

In July, Wrightbus admitted it was working with Deloitte to find investors. Since then, there has been interest from local business Darren Donnelly, Chinese industrial group Weichai and Jo Bamford, of the family that founded construction-vehicle firm JCB. However, Wrightbus is now expected to formally appoint Deloitte as administrator today. 

It follows the collapse on Monday of travel agent Thomas Cook, stranding hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers around the globe and leading to the UK's largest ever peacetime repatriation. Johnson, meanwhile, has problems in his own line of work – he is facing calls for his resignation after the Supreme Court declared his suspension of Parliament unlawful.