North east underwater tech specialist collapses into administration

An established subsea engineering firm with roots in the North East stretching back more than 35 years has called in administrators only a year after it was acquired. Manta Systems UK, which

had been called Modus Subsea Services, had suffered several years of losses and earlier this year was subject to a winding up petition from Tompkins Investments, owned by former Modus owner

Arthur Tompkins. The firm specialised in autonomous subsea drones used to tend oil and gas fields and had employed as many as 67 people in recent years. Insolvency experts at RSM UK

Restructuring Advisory LLP confirmed remaining staff at the Darlington-based firm had been made redundant in February after a failed hunt for a rescue buyer. The subsequent appointment of

joint administrators Gareth Harris and Lee Lockwood came about a year after Modus' acquisition by global marine services firm PXGEO, which had said it wanted to use the North East

firm's capabilities to boost its subsea market offer. The move followed a restructuring of the company in 2022, when it sold it fleet of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) in a near £5m

deal to focus on development of underwater intervention drones. In the same year the firm reported an operating loss of £1.3m and net liabilities of more than £9.7m - with the sale funding

part of the debt and a bridging loan brought in to refinance the remainder. As Modus, the business is said to have secured a world-first contract with energy giant Equinor to provide

underwater intervention drones at its Johan Sverdrup field. The firm's name was changed to Manta Systems in September last year. Gareth Harris, joint administrator and restructuring

advisory partner at RSM UK, said: “As a result of sustained losses and a winding up petition, Manta Systems UK Limited had limited options available in the circumstances and unfortunately, a

sale of the business as a whole was not possible. "It’s a very uncertain time for businesses and unfortunately the company faced several challenges which were exacerbated by the

current economic climate and general market uncertainty. "Following our appointment, we’re working closely with the company’s creditors and other stakeholders to realise assets

identified and deal with creditor claims. "We’re also keeping all former employees informed and are assisting them with recovery of their statutory entitlements through the redundancy

payments service." The joint administrators said they are now seeking offers for the assets of Manta Systems UK on the best available terms and to distribute any funds to creditors in

the order of priority.