Dundee firm laid low by oil price fallout

The downturn in the oil and gas industry is being blamed for a Dundee engineering firm falling into administration.

Dundee skyline and River Tay

The 42 employees of PressureFab Limited were made redundant shortly before the company went into administration.

Blair Nimmo and Tony Friar of KPMG have been appointed joint administrators of the business along with its parent company Twickler Industries, and a further four group companies.

PressureFab designs and manufactures specialist equipment for the oil and gas sector and is thought to be the largest offshore container manufacturer in Scotland.

The administrators said the company, which had a turnover of more than £5 million in 2014/2015, had suffered a sharp fall in revenues which resulted in “unsurmountable cash flow difficulties”.

Over the past 18 months it has reduced costs in an attempt to mitigate the effects of reducing activity levels, with headcount reducing from a peak of approximately 100 in 2015.

Nimmo, head of restructuring for KPMG in the UK, said: “PressureFab Limited is the latest firm to fall victim to challenging trading conditions in the oil and gas sector. As client orders were cancelled or postponed, the number of new business enquiries reduced significantly, leaving the company with no option other than to cease trading.

“We are currently reviewing the company’s financial position as we seek to complete certain orders and realise stock.

“The company is widely considered to be a leading manufacturer for the sector and we anticipate there will be interest in the company’s infrastructure including its property, plant and intellectual property. We would encourage any party with an interest in acquiring the company’s assets to make contact with us as soon as possible.”