Major manufacturing company Autostructures UK goes bust with hundreds at risk

A UK specialist manufacturing company with a "reputation for excellence" has gone bust, placing hundreds of jobs at risk.

Autostructures UK, which played a pivotal role in helping JCB make the world's fastest tractor, has entered administration. The company worked alongside engineers at JCB to design and manufacture specialised wheel components for its Fastrac model, which can reach a peak speed of 153.771mph.

As a JCB supplier for 30 years, Autostructures UK supplied over 22,000 chassis over the course of a decade. It entered administration on March 27, according to The Gazette.

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Joint administrators Christopher Pole, Ryan Grant and Sam Birchall from Interpath were called in two days prior to parent company, Moveero Ltd - which manufactures construction vehicles, as well as wheels, rims and hubs for farming.

The company's UK arm became insolvent on March 26, with around 250 jobs at Sankey Holdings, Moveero Ltd and Autostructures UK at risk. The business was sold to private equity firm, Aurelius, in 2020.

Moveero group continues to operate profitably, Interpath said, with the rest of the group's businesses in the US and Denmark not affected by the insolvency in Britain. It explained that business based in the UK had faced major operational challenges due to a weakened off‑highway market, downward pricing pressure and competition from rivals.

"As a result of these ongoing challenges, the directors of the businesses have taken steps to protect the interests of creditors by appointing administrators," Inerpath said in a statement.

"This will allow the UK businesses to continue trading while buyers for the businesses and their assets are pursued, with all staff retained during this period."

David Geraghty, CEO of moveero, said: "Against a difficult economic backdrop, we have worked tirelessly over the past 12 months to improve the financial performance of the UK business.

"We are incredibly grateful for the support of our brilliant team and also the support of our customers who have provided us with funding in recent days which has given us the additional time we need to continue to explore the options available."