AN Edinburgh-based IT company has gone into administration with more than 90 of its 109 staff being made redundant.
Blair Nimmo and Alistair McAlinden, of KPMG LLP, have been appointed joint administrators of Hutchinson Networks Ltd, which was established in 2011.
The company delivers IT network solutions to blue-chip and SME customers across the globe.
Significant new contract wins spurred a period of rapid growth over the past two years, which was forecast to continue during this year and beyond.
However, contract delays and the mixture of work it secured during the second half of 2018, saw the firm generate lower gross margins than forecast, resulting in monthly losses and cashflow pressures.
Bosses tried cost control measures and launched a process to secure additional investment to support the next phase of growth and stabilise finances.
However, this proved unsuccessful and with no other sources of funding available, they place thed company into administration. Administrators said they had no other option than to make 94 of the company’s employees redundant with immediate effect. They said 15 remaining staff had been retained to continue to trade at the network operation centre.
Nimmo, UK head of restructuring at KPMG, said: “Hutchinson Networks was a rising star in global IT network deployment.
“It had invested heavily for future growth and secured attractive contracts for the second half of 2019. Despite the exhaustive actions of the directors to increase sales, reduce costs and attract new investment, the business was unable to continue trading.
“We are exploring a sale of the business and assets and would encourage any interested parties to contact us as soon as possible.
“Additionally, we are working with Scottish Enterprise and Skills Development Scotland to provide a full range of support to the company’s employees throughout this process.”
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