The Wrekin Ruby gemstone – exchanged for £11 million worth of shares in doomed firm Wrekin Construction – has been sold for £8,010, administrators said today.

The ruby, known as the Gem of Tanzania, was sold by administrators for Wrekin Construction to Pertemps Investments Ltd following a private auction.

The 10,700 carat ruby had been put up for sale by Ernst & Young in a bid to claw back some of the millions still owed to creditors after the Shifnal firm went into administration last March.

The company’s collapse led to the loss of more than 500 jobs and the gemstone was listed among the firm’s assets.

Ernst & Young today confirmed the sale to Pertemps Investments Ltd, a holding company which incorporates more than 100 employment agencies, including Wrekin creditor Telford-based Network Construction Services, part of Network Group.

Network Group said it had opted to purchase the gemstone to compensate it for the losses it incurred when Wrekin went into administration.

Jon Smith, group operations director for Network Group, said: “It is certainly one of the most unusual cases I have ever come across in my career.

“However, it quickly became apparent to us following Wrekin’s collapse that we would be unlikely to recover what was owed to us through normal channels.

“We have therefore opted to make this strategic investment and the ruby has been placed in the Birmingham Deposit Centre for safekeeping where we hope it will continue to rise in value.”

Ernst & Young said more than 60 offers had been received for the ruby.

“Further to approval from the creditors committee of Wrekin Construction Company Limited, a bid of £8,010 was accepted,” it added.

The gem was sold to Wrekin by the Tamar Group, run by businessman David Unwin, who also became the chairman of Wrekin Construction when he bought the company in 2007.

It was previously listed in the Tamar accounts as having a value of £300,000.

When Wrekin went into administration it left debts of more than £40 million owed to more than 1,000 creditors, including a £20 million claim from the company’s pension fund.