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Ballscrew-maker Jena Tec Precision enters administration

23 September, 2019

Jena Tec Precision, the Nottingham, UK, based manufacturer of linear and rotary motion products, including ballscrews, spindles and actuators, has been placed in administration. The joint administrators – Mike Solomons of restructuring, recovery and insolvency firm, BM Advisory, and James Robinson of Finn Associates – are hoping to sell the business and its assets as a going concern.

They say that Jena Tec had suffered from a recent downturn in sales, principally due to customer caution driven by the political and economic uncertainty in the lead-up to Brexit.

As well as supplying products and services to UK customers, Jena Tec exports to the US, Europe and Asia. In addition to designing and manufacturing linear and rotary motion products, it also carries out repairs.

On 11 September 2019, BM Advisory was engaged to conduct a review of the financial position of the business and quickly concluded that the best option to save the company and preserve jobs was to place it into administration.

Following their appointment on 17 September, the joint administrators embarked on a marketing campaign to find a buyer for the business and its assets. Jena Tec is continuing to trade while a buyer is sought. All 15 members of staff have been retained.

In 2012, the Japanese precision engineering specialist, Kuroda Precision Industries bought the Jena Tec group of companies from the UK-based precision engineering group, Avingtrans, for £13.45m in cash. At that stage, the group had manufacturing operations in Germany and the US, as  well as UK.

Jena Tec Precision's product portfolio includes ballscrews

Financial statements published last year showed that Kuroda Jena Tec UK made an after-tax loss of £146,984 in the year to in February 2018 – up from £29,662 the previous year. The then director Christopher Parker reported that Kuroda had said that it would continue to provide financial support to the UK operation “for the foreseeable future” and “as a minimum for 12 months following the approval of these financial statements”. But less than two months later, Parker’s employment was terminated and Kuroda sold Kuroda Jena Tec UK.

The new director “worked hard to address the various business challenges, however, the general country-wide slowdown in business and consumer confidence, which is hitting demand and sending shock-waves across most British industries, led the company to experience financial difficulties,” says Mike Solomons of BM Advisory.

“Jena Tec,” he adds, “has a strong distribution network and a reputation for providing quality, competitive pricing, good delivery and excellent customer service. We therefore feel confident that a buyer will be sought and a strong future for the business restored.”




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