Hundreds of jobs lost as nuclear specialist falls into administration

Hundreds of jobs have been lost at a Preston-based nuclear decommissioning business that has gone bust.

JFN Ltd is the former nuclear arm of Cumbrian marine engineering group James Fisher.

The loss-making concern was sold for just £3 in March this year to UK private equity firm, Rcapital as part of a group-wide restructuring by Fisher.

However, business advisory firm, FTI Consulting, has now been appointed administrator of JFN, which employed around 300 staff, including approximately 20 in the Instrumentation division, which has attracted interest from potential buyers.

Redundancy notices were issued to most of the staff yesterday (August 9).

JFN had been a key technical services business to the UK nuclear decommissioning sector for more than 30 years.

However, FTI said it has incurred losses in recent years, associated with a number of uneconomical long term contracts which have resulted in a significant funding requirement for the business.

Over the past few months, the directors and key stakeholders have worked hard to try and safeguard the future of the business.

But, regrettably, the company has insufficient cash resources to continue to trade beyond the short term and the directors have concluded that there is no longer any reasonable prospect of a sale. Therefore, the directors said they have had no choice but appoint administrators.

The administration team said it will focus on working with staff, customers, subcontractors and suppliers to effect a wind-down of the majority of operations over the next few weeks, while continuing to explore interest in parts of the business.

FTI said it is hopeful of being able to conclude a transaction for the Instrumentation division within the coming days.

The administrators are working closely with staff affected by the closure of the business to ensure they receive the support they need during this difficult time to assist with their claims for redundancy and other compensatory payments.

A statement from FTI said: “Our priority is to ensure that all employees made redundant are assisted in processing their claims with immediate effect.

“We will be circulating correspondence to all staff as soon as possible which will outline the support available to complete redundancy payment forms.”

The James Fisher Group sold the business in March this year, following the sale of three other businesses in its Marine Support division in December 2022, in what the group described as “a year of stabilisation”.

At the time of the disposal, Rcapital said it would provide JFN with a £3m secured revolving credit facility to fund the growth of the business going forward.

In addition, it said it would make a secured interest-bearing term loan facility of up to £3.5m available to JFN.

Josie Richardson, investment director at Rcapital, said: “JFN plays a crucial role in the UK’s nuclear decommissioning industry and, hence, the delivery of the Government’s strategic energy plan. Its management team, market-leading technical services and unique UK-based experience in specialist fields put it in a strong position. We are pleased to have the opportunity to support the business as it enters a new phase of growth and development.”

In 2021, JFN generated third party revenue of £51.7m and a loss before tax of £0.1m. At June 30, 2022, the unaudited gross assets of the business were approximately £36.4m and its net assets were approximately £17.5m, of which goodwill represented £8.1m.

JFN boasted almost 40 years of experience in the nuclear decommissioning sector, tackling some of the largest technical and manufacturing challenges presented by its nuclear clients, from fuel cycle and power generation through to nuclear new-build and decommissioning.

Its expertise encompassed nuclear decommissioning, reactor segmentation, nuclear fuel manufacturing, nuclear power generation, and nuclear new-build.

It was based in Bamber Bridge, Preston.