Universal Engineering, which opened a factory at Llantrisant earlier this year with finance from the Welsh Assembly, has gone into administration, putting more than 100 jobs at risk.

The company, which also has a site in Weymouth, said that its strategy to “diversify and develop new business has proved to be unsustainable, given the precipitous decline in investments in the oil and gas industry and the challenges faced by our key clients”.

The business is a subsidiary of the Bland Group, which has its headquarters in West Sussex and specialises in equipment for the sub-sea, oil and gas, defence and aerospace sectors.

Director Henry Games said: “This is a very sad day for all of us at Universal Engineering, especially having put significant effort and resources into making a success of the business. We deeply regret having to take this decision.

“We appreciate that this will be a very difficult time for all employees, and we will try to provide as much information and support as we can during this process.”

In April, Universal Engineering opened its Welsh centre of excellence, backed by £2 million of business finance from the Welsh Assembly. The previous October, it acquired Phoenix CNC Engineering, a Nottingham-based manufacturer of aerospace parts.