The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Sips Eco Panels: 31 jobs lost as Fife firm collapses.
CONSTRUCTION: Insulated panel maker closes doors after substantial trading losses
Fife’s manufacturing sector has been dealt a major blow after a specialist building materials group collapsed into administration.
A total of 31 jobs have been lost at the Sips Eco Panels factory at Viewfield Industrial estate in Glenrothes after administrators were called in to the firm’s head office in Sudbury, Suffolk.
Joint administrators Elias Paourou and David Oprey of CVR Global said the group had folded after suffering significant trading losses.
The company had failed to fulfil a number of orders it had on its books.
A total of 40 staff across the two sites were immediately made redundant following the administrators’ appointment late last week. Sips Eco Panels was a trading name used by Sips Frames UK Limited, the group to which the administration order relates.
The company’s Fife operation was its manufacturing base for a range of structural insulated panel products.
The panels comprise two structural frames between which a layer of insulation is sandwiched.
SIPs are widely used in the construction industry as a quick method of internal wall creation and their ease of use has made them popular within the self-build market.
Mr Paourou said CVR’s first task was to determine the full state of the company’s affairs.
He also said talks were being held with potential buyers for Sips, despite the fact the business is not trading.
“Our appointment has come as a result of the company running up substantial losses which has led to contracts not being fulfilled,” the joint administrator confirmed.
“We are in the process of carrying out a full review of the company’s affairs, but unfortunately the company has ceased trading and all staff made redundant while we attempt to find a positive outcome.
“We are in talks with parties who are interested in buying the business and will be updating creditors in due course.”
Mr Paourou said Sips’ collapse was not only impacting on employees, with some customers who are in the midst of construction projects and had ordered SIP panels being left without the materials they expected to receive.
“Many of its customers are people who have taken on self-build projects and have paid for products which have not been received, so the situation will be devastating for a lot of people,” Mr Paourou added.
Anyone with an interest in the business, which was a member of the Structural Timber Association, or a potential claim is advised to contact the administrators’ office in Hove, East Sussex.