Harland & Wolff has lined up administrators after its hopes of securing a £200million bailout from taxpayers were dashed last week.
The firm made famous for building the Titanic appears to be sinking, and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds will update the House Of Commons on developments today.
The company – which has recently launched a new business in Aberdeen - announced on July 1st that it was unable to file its accounts on time and that shares had been suspended.
It received a second major blow last week as the new Labour administration rejected a request for government agency UK Export Finance to underwrite fresh funding from a US hedge fund.
Harland & Wolff chief executive John Wood resigned on Friday amid reports that Riverstone would not agree to interim funding if he remained in post. Talks over the are believed to centre on agreeing a £20million facility from the American fund to tide the business over.
Accountancy firm EY is advising officials from the Department for Business on its options, and accountants from Deloitte have been parachuted in to replace Grant Thornton in advising the Harland & Wolff board, according to the Sunday Times.
Whitehall sources insisted this weekend that civil servants were confident an interim deal could be struck that removes “the immediate risk of administration”. Whether a longer-term deal can be agreed remains to be seen, however.
Harland & Wolff opened a new company in August last year to service the energy sector in Aberdeen.
Harland & Wolff Technologies focuses on fuels of the future, batteries, propulsion and system integration, whilst servicing operational assets in the North Sea.