Turbine installation specialist Windhoist has entered administration, its owner STAR Capital has confirmed.
Financial consultancy Grant Thornton has been appointed to oversee the insolvency process of the Scottish company and its Irish subsidiary.
A STAR spokesperson said “a series of unforeseeable external factors” in recent years had “severely impacted” the business.
“Both the Covid pandemic and its subsequent significant supply chain disruptions have led to considerable delays in projects, an inability to move expert technicians and equipment to overseas locations for extended periods of time, shortages of skilled labour and inflationary pressures on its customer base and the wider industry,” they added.
“More recently these pressures have been compounded by other world events, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict and continuing lockdowns in China.”
Scotland-headquartered Windhoist, which has operations in a number of countries, has let a number of staff go, it is understood.
The business grew out of Ireland’s agricultural sector was acquired by London-based private equity company STAR Capital in 2019 having specialised in turbine installations in the late 1990s.
Personnel from Grant Thornton were appointed yesterday to act as administrators to Windhoist and provisional liquidators of Windhoist Ireland.
“Owing to adverse trading conditions in recent years, Windhoist encountered significant cash flow issues in the days prior to appointment,” a Grant Thornton spokesperson said.
“The directors therefore concluded that they had no alternative but to place both companies into an insolvency process. All trading and operations have currently ceased and the administrators/provisional liquidators are currently liaising with key stakeholders as they assess the options available to them. Further information will be made available in due course.”
Windhoist had been working to install turbines on at least one project in Ireland, and is understood to have been involved with further projects in Europe and Taiwan.