The company makes a range of sweets

John Millar and Sons employs almost 100 people at Broxburn in West Lothian, producing a range of mints, caramels and boiled sweets.

A spokesman for the receivers said the company was continuing to trade in the hope that a buyer could be found.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said there had already been some interest in the firm, which was founded in 1844 by Edinburgh baker John Millar.

He started selling the sweets he made in the back of his shop in Leith, then eventually gave up the bakery to concentrate on what had become a successful sideline.

By the 1920s the company had become one of Scotland's principal manufacturers and wholesalers of confectionery.

The company was beginning this year to at least break even, but unfortunately it ran out of time Graham Martin PwC

The firm left Edinburgh for more modern premises in Broxburn in 1989.

Graham Martin, of PwC, said the company's margins had been squeezed through a combination of production problems, increases in prices of raw materials and the power wielded by the major retailers.

"It has in place a restructuring strategy which has not yet borne fruit," he said.

"The company was beginning this year to at least break even, but unfortunately it ran out of time."

He said there had already been some tentative interest in what was a well-known brand name.