A pipeline engineering specialist with a base in Aberdeen has closed its doors after it was put into administration.
Pipeline Engineering & Supply Co shut up shop including its facility on the Altens Industrial Estate after Jimmy Saunders and Michael Lennon, both of Kroll, were appointed joint administrators this week.
The firm employed 83 in Aberdeen who have now all lost their jobs.
The company is a UK subsidiary of Circor International, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
The US firm acquired Pipeline Engineering, which is headquartered near Catterick, North Yorkshire, in 2009.
It had been operating since 1969 and specialised in the design, manufacture and testing of pipeline products, a process known as “pigging”.
Circor had been attempting to find a buyer for the loss-making business but administrators say it had failed to do so.
Accounting irregularities
Last month, the US company admitted that it may have to restate financial results due to “accounting irregularities” related to its pipeline unit. It had estimated that the irregularities were “in the range of $35 to $45 million of pre-tax income on a cumulative basis over a period of at least five years”.
Saunders said: “The business was loss making as its cost base and infrastructure were not aligned to revenues.
“The group has made substantial investment into the company, but together with the current economic uncertainty and cost inflation in manufacturing, it was unfortunately unable to continue to provide financial support.”
The administrator confirmed that the group “had recently reported accounting irregularities in financial statements of the company, and this led to a detailed strategic review of options and underlying performance … this included a sale process for the company and its business and assets, but no buyer was forthcoming”.
In a statement Kroll said it was “working with the relevant authorities to provide support to the employees”.
It added that the collapse has had “no impact on the remainder of the group’s businesses in the United Kingdom”.
Earlier this month the Burlington, Massachusetts-based company reported 2021 revenues of $756.5 million.
