East Anglia-based engineering firm SLP has been placed into administration by its directors due to a drawn out legal row over a Middle East oil contract.
PricewaterhouseCoopers has been called in to act as the administrators. 45 management jobs have been lost, while a further 700 jobs are safe until the firm finishes a project for BP in spring next year.
A total of 876 staff are employed across its sites at Lowestoft in Suffolk, Blackpool, Tyneside and New Malden, Surrey.
The dispute involves work completed on the Al Shaheen field development project in Qatar for shipping and oil firm Maersk, and remains unresolved, placing SLP under considerable financial pressure.
The disagreement also strained the company's reputation with customers, and the number of new projects has consequently fallen.
The administrators' first priority is to retain as many existing customers as they can, and then to search for a buyer for the
engineering business for sale as a going concern.
Stephen Oldfield of PwC said: "The directors have been exploring a number of options for the business over several weeks but were unable to find a solution."
He continued: "administration means there is an opportunity for a buyer to take on the business and assets of SLP Engineering in Lowestoft without the burden of these arbitration proceedings, which must help the prospect of finding a buyer."
