Cenergist Limited has entered administration, seeing 100 staff made redundant and the immediate sale of the company’s water division to Control Flow Technologies Group.
Cenergist, which was the sole trading subsidiary of Eneraqua Technologies plc, designed and implemented decarbonisation and water efficiency projects in the private and public sector.
The business employed 144 staff through its operations in Sunderland, London, Cardiff and Leeds, and a further 42 staff at its overseas operations in the Netherlands, Spain, and India.
In recent months, Cenergist faced financial challenges after suffering delays on a number of large energy projects, which put unsustainable pressure on working capital. In view of the funding requirement, the company launched an accelerated investment process to seek to secure new funding into the business.
Despite an extensive marketing process led by Interpath, unfortunately there were no viable solvent proposals received for Cenergist and a pre-packaged sale was deemed the best option in the interest of creditors.
Immediately upon appointment, joint administrators James Lumb and Howard Smith from Interpath concluded the sale of Cenergist’s water business to Control Flow Technologies Group, a company led by the Cenergist water management team and supported by four of the directors of Eneraqua.
The transaction includes the acquisition of various subsidiaries of Cenergist including Control Flow Technologies Limited, Cenergist Spain SL and its subsidiaries HaGePe International BV and HGP Exploitatie BV, and Cenergist Energy Private Limited.
It will see the transfer of 42 UK-based staff from its operations in Sunderland and the North East, as well as 42 colleagues from its international operations.
Approximately 100 staff have been made redundant. The joint administrators are now focused on winding up the group’s energy and eco divisions and supporting impacted staff.
James Lumb, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator of Cenergist Limited, said: “Cenergist required significant investment following delays to certain major contracts and an adverse outcome from a contractual dispute.
“While a solvent sale was unfortunately not possible, we’re pleased to have secured a future for its water division, safeguarding a number of jobs, and we wish the team all the best with the venture as they look to rebuild.
“The issues faced by Cenergist are consistent with what we are seeing in the market across number of sectors; quality investment projects are being commissioned but timelines are slipping. So, while businesses are winning good work, cash flow is becoming stretched.
“Lenders and stakeholders are being very supportive and there are options out there but, in businesses like Cenergist that rely on a large turnover of projects, this can become unsustainable.
“Regrettably, not all of the group could be saved and so we’re focused on supporting impacted employees through this difficult period, including making representations to the Redundancy Payments Service, and winding down the rest of the group.”
