More than 25 jobs have been lost after a long-established design company that helped get the A380 superjumbo off the ground went into administration.

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

But administrators Pitman Cohen, of Ruislip, Middlesex, were called in last week (24) following financial problems. They declined to comment, except to confirm that the firm was in administration.

Bowes, founded by David Bowes and previously located in Meopham, specialises in the creation of transportation mock-ups, translating the ideas of designers and engineers into 3D reality.

Its mock-ups and models are used in presentations, sign-offs, evaluation and crew training. 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.

Before going into administration, the company reported annual sales of more than £2.5m. It recently expanded by moving into 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.