Street fundraising agency Gift Fundraising has gone into voluntary administration with the loss of 40 permanent jobs and around 300 street fundraising posts.

The board blamed “disappointing performance on the street, primarily over the winter period, which has seen an unexpected drop in results”.

They said: “Unfortunately this downturn was severe enough to cause serious financial pressure on the company and the directors are of the view that it would have been irresponsible to continue trading in this scenario.”

By taking action early, the board has ensured that any outstanding liabilities to clients will be met. The directors also emphasised that all fundraising staff have been paid for all their work to date.

Set up in 2001, Gift is the oldest and largest street fundraising agency in the UK and has raised over £100m for its charity clients.

Dominic Will, joint managing director, described the administration as “a very difficult decision, but the right decision”.

He said that the unexpectedly low sign-up rates over the Christmas period could not be attributed to any one factor but were probably influenced by the wider economic climate and possibly the rising rate of youth unemployment, as street fundraising tends to target a younger demographic

“All companies have their ups and downs,” he said. “We remain of the opinion that street fundraising is a viable method of raising money and should be part of the fundraising mix.”

Last year, Gift was put under the jurisdiction of the joint managing directors of its sister company, Home Fundraising, in a bid to secure its future. Will, one of the MDs, said they had put in place new recruitment, management and training processes which were ready to take effect this coming spring, but the disappointing winter results hit before they could do so.

Will insisted that door-to-door agency Home Fundraising was unaffected by the winter downturn and remained “stable and solvent”.