Bourne Technical Mouldings Ltd appointed Kelly Mitchell and Carl Jackson of Quantuma Restructuring as administrators at the start of April. The Walsall-based injection moulding company had failed to reach an agreement with HM Revenue & Customs over payment of its PAYE arrears. Almost half of the 21-strong workforce lost their jobs, while the remainder will be made redundant at the end of the month, when Bourne ceases trading.

Quantuma partner Carl Jackson said: “Despite being offered payment in full over time, and despite funding of part of the debt being available from Five Arrows Business Finance, HMRC were not comfortable spreading payment.” Quantuma had talks with Bourne’s largest customer — a manufacturer of automotive lighting equipment — with a view to obtaining its support for the business while a buyer was found.

“Unfortunately, due to the nature of the automotive industry, the customer came under pressure from its own customers to secure a new supplier, so it was unable to commit to continuing to purchase from Bourne.” Quantuma is a restructuring practice with offices in London, Southampton, Marlow and Brighton.