A London firm has been bought out of administration after running into financial difficulties.

Jacksons, which has ten branches in south-west London, employing 85 staff, has been acquired by the Dexters Group.

Dexters chief executive Jeff Doble confirmed that the purchase for an undisclosed sum has taken place over the last few days.

The tenancy deposit protection organisation, My Deposits, had placed what is understood to be a substantial charge on Jacksons, which is also understood to have run up significant debts owed to HMRC.

Doble stressed: “There is no question of customers’ money being at risk.

“I think that My Deposits had concern that the firm was in financial trouble, but our purchase means that the deposits are 100% safe.”

The charge by Tenancy Deposit Solutions, which runs My Deposits, was registered back in May.

Eddie Hooker, CEO of My Deposits, said he could not discuss details on specific cases “other than to say that we work with all our members to ensure that tenants’ deposits are protected and secure”.

The Companies House website shows that Jacksons South West – the company’s name – had been the subject of a corporate voluntary agreement between July 2012 and last month, with the insolvency practitioner being Jeffrey Brenner of B & C Associates.

Tony McVeigh, managing director of Jacksons, is not staying with the business following the sale out of administration.

Companies House records show that McVeigh was also director of two other businesses which failed – Jacksons Holdings and Jacksons (SW London) Ltd, both of which were dissolved.

Jacksons (SW London) was incorporated in May 2007 and dissolved in September 2010; Jacksons Holdings was incorporated in May 2008 and dissolved in January 2015.

Jacksons South West was incorporated also in May 2008.

Doble paid tribute to Jacksons staff, saying: “There are great people in Jacksons, all working very hard.

“Despite having been in financial trouble, this is really about the way it was run. It is essentially a good, strong business.”

Jacksons has won several awards in the ESTAs, coming third in the whole of the UK in 2014 after it won the title of best medium estate agency.

Jacksons will continue to trade under its current name for the foreseeable future.

Its purchase brings the size of Dexters group to over 80 branches across London.

Doble founded Dexters with an office in Twickenham in 1993 and it has grown in leaps and bounds since.

Earlier this year it reported that it had acquired and rebranded 28 offices in central London, had an annual turnover of some £70m and is set to record an operating profit of £15m this year.

In June, it said it has reinvested some £100m in the business over the past eight years and it reckons to spend ten times the industry average on staff training.