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A historic manufacturer based in Walsall has fallen into administration after over 100 years of operation. The Electrolytic Plating Company, which specialises in electrolytic plating, high-performance surface coatings, and metal finishing, succumbed to ongoing financial difficulties, with significant challenges arising since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Administrators from BDO were appointed to handle the collapse, and they successfully arranged the sale of two divisions of the company to Wolverhampton Electro Plating. While this move secured jobs within those divisions, the rest of the business has ceased trading, leading to an undisclosed number of redundancies.
At the time of filing its last accounts with Companies House, the company employed around 50 staff. Joint administrators Kerry Bailey and Lee Causer expressed both relief at securing the sale and regret over the unavoidable layoffs.
Bailey stated: “The Electrolytic Plating Company has traded for over a century, but it has had to navigate several financial challenges, particularly since the COVID crisis. We are delighted that the sale of the two divisions and certain assets will see the business continue, securing the continued employment for the divisional employees.”
Unfortunately, despite the rescue of some parts of the business, the administration process has resulted in job losses. The administrators are now assisting affected employees with their statutory redundancy claims and are focused on maximising the remaining assets of the company for the benefit of creditors.
The Electrolytic Plating Company’s financial struggles were evident in its 2022 accounts, which revealed fixed assets worth £3 million and current assets of approximately £1.2 million. However, liabilities outweighed these assets, leaving the company with net assets of just under £48,000.
This marks a difficult end for a long-established firm, although the sale of key divisions provides a glimmer of hope for continued operations under new ownership.
