More than 50 jobs were lost after an engineering company collapsed into administration while another administrator has taken staff on as it prepares to sell a historic Scottish business. Find out what happened in Brian Donnelly’s look back on last month's business.
An engineering company and a UK holiday park were among administration reports that outlined two very different outcomes.
While all 53 jobs were lost with the collapse of one Aberdeen-owned firm, news of plans for the sale of a company behind a group of well-known holiday parks came last month after more staff had been hired.
Catch up on what the business team was working on last month:
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- Big plans revealed for famous part of Glasgow that 'has seen better days'
- The hidden value of volunteers as The Open prepares to roll into Royal Birkdale
I revealed that all staff had been made redundant after one manufacturing company ceased trading. Glacier Energy Manufacturing Limited was placed into administration by its Scottish owner, with the loss of all jobs.
The company was impacted by a downturn in demand in the North Sea oil and gas sector. The energy industry engineer and manufacturer was part of the wider Glacier Group, headquartered in Aberdeen.
I wrote that the group continues to trade through its mechanical solutions and inspection services divisions, which focus on site machining and equipment services and non-destructive testing and inspection services, and the other divisions are "thriving".
Manufacturing sites
The business operated manufacturing sites south of the Border. The parent company said in an administration statement: “We have made the difficult decision to close our manufacturing facility in Stockton on Tees, with one of our entities, Glacier Energy Manufacturing Limited, being placed into administration.
“The Stockton facility was previously Francis Brown, which we acquired out of administration in August 2024 in a pre-pack deal.
“Despite significant efforts to turnaround the business, due to market challenges and the current fiscal regime, activity levels in the North Sea oil and gas market have been significantly impacted and new energy markets slow to materialise."
Also in the last month, I reported that a holiday park company that was placed into administration is to be sold.
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Extra staff have been taken on to keep eight holiday parks in Scotland operating following the £103m collapse of the company, a new report revealed.
The extent of the debt attributed to Cove Communities Venture 2 Argyle OpCo Limited, the subsidiary established to operate Argyll Holidays, was shown for the first time.
Joint administrators
Joint administrators Adam Paxton, Rob Croxen and Ben Cairns, of Alvarez & Marsal, said in the report that they added staff to the complement in Scotland.
There were 97 staff at Argyll Holidays when the company was placed into administration in November, and this was increased to 255 "to ensure we have sufficient staff to support ongoing trading", the administrators said.
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They said in relation to the main Scottish sites: "We anticipate that the sale of business process will be launched within the next few months, however the timeline for completion of any transaction is uncertain."
Argyll Holidays was founded in 1967 with the flagship Drimsynie Estate park. Also among the sites are Hunters Quay Holiday Village in Dunoon, Loch Awe Holiday Park, and Loch Eck Caravan Park.
THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN BUSINESS HQ MONTHLY
The company acquired family business Argyll Holidays for £100m in 2022, when director Keith Campbell said: "We as a family have put heart and soul into developing our group of parks.
"Cove is the ideal custodian of Argyll Holidays, sharing as we do, the same missions and values and commitment to the preservation and investment in the destinations we own."
In another exclusive report, I revealed that a home and garden improvement retail giant that collapsed into administration with the loss of thousands of jobs owed £803 million.
My report revealed for the first time the extent of job losses at Homebase and that 1,299 creditors face losing more than £700m following the 2025 closure.
The home and garden group which had 135 stores across the UK, including seven in Scotland, slumped into administration after suffering losses of over £59m. At that stage, it had 3,446 employees.
Gavin Park, Gavin Maher and Adele MacLeod, of Teneo Financial Advisory, were appointed as joint administrators and they told how demand for garden and home equipment was profitable during and following the pandemic but that it dropped off to a loss after this.
The business, including 51 stores and intellectual property, was sold to CDS (Superstores International) Limited, owned by retail magnate Chris Dawson and trading as The Range and Wilko for £25.6m.
As part of the transaction, 1,150 employees were transferred to the new owner in November 2024 and the remaining stores creased trading in March 2025. Administrators said around 2,300 employee claims totalling £938,000 were expected.
Wells Fargo Capital was owed £20.1m which was repaid in full repaid, and Ark Finco was owed £80m following the administration of the home and garden giant.
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