The UK operations of electric vehicle maker Arrival have collapsed into administration.
The Banbury-based business was worth £9 billion just three years ago following a special purpose acquisition merger which saw it list on New York’s Nasdaq exchange.
Founded in the UK in 2015 by Russian billionaire and former government minister Denis Sverdlov, it aimed to produce electric vans, buses and taxis more cheaply via ‘microfactories’ in various locations.
It received an early order for 10,000 vehicles from the US delivery giant UPS with an option for a further 10,000 as Hyundai and institutional investors scrambled to back the company.
However things gradually turned sour. There was a fire at its Banbury facility – during a demonstration of one of its vans – in 2022 and several financial setbacks as it struggled to get its designs produced.
Last year it said it would halve its 800-strong workforce and switch production to North Carolina in the United States, while in November it secured £40 million in emergency funding as it sought a buyer. It currently has no revenue.
Its shares were suspended from trading at the end of January 2024.
Farfetch faces winding up petition days after $500m takeover
Recently Arrival UK Ltd and Arrival Automotive employed 172 people, with almost 40 of those now made redundant. The remainder have been retained to assist with the sale of the business and assets, including its EV platform, software, intellectual property and R&D assets.
Simon Edel, Alan Hudson and Sam Woodward of EY-Parthenon’s Turnaround and Restructuring Strategy team have been appointed joint administrators of Arrival UK and Arrival Automotive UK.
“The group’s liquidity position has been impacted by a challenging market and macroeconomic conditions resulting in delays getting the group’s products to market,” they stated.
“As such, the joint administrators are now exploring options for the sale of the business and assets of the companies.”