NWIX collapses into administration
TECHNOLOGY company NWIX has fallen into administration seven months after securing a £500,000 funding package.
The business, which operates a national fibre network, was backed by the Merseyside Special Investment Fund’s loan and equity fund in March.
Under the terms of the deal the business, which has around 20 staff, moved from its base in Macclesfield to Liverpool.
Administrators from Begbies Traynor in Leeds were appointed to NWIX Group, and its subsidiaries NWIX Ltd, Metro Ethernet Services, and EGDE-IX, at the start of the month. They have since sold the business to an undisclosed buyer.
A brief statement from Begbies said: “The joint administrators, David Wilson and Julian Pitts of Begbies Traynor, have completed a sale to a third party in order to provide the best return for creditors. The terms of the contract prevent further details from being released at this time, but creditors will receive a report in due course.”
NWIX Group, which had sales of £3.6m, was planning to double the size of its team over the next three years and grow turnover to £5m. Clients included Moneysupermarket.com, Trader Media Group, e-llan (the Isle of Man Communications Authority) and KPN International, the Dutch communications group.
NWIX was founded in 2004 by founder Nick Whittaker who previously designed and built the Manchester Internet Exchange which services hundreds of Internet Service Providers across the UK. He was the firm’s sole shareholder through a company called Investments in Innovation.
A year ago Steve Smith, who has worked with public sector investment body Liverpool Vision for some time, was appointed NWIX’s chief executive.
