Administrator reveals that efforts to find buyer for Manor F1 team have failed and staff have been made redundant.

In a week that has seen seismic changes to the sport, with Bernie Ecclestone losing control after 40-plus years in charge and Liberty Media buying F1 in a deal worth £6.5bn ($8bn), Manor appears to have joined the long list of teams destroyed by the failure of the sport to deal with the various issues facing its minnows.

Administrators for the Banbury-based outfit, FRP Advisory, have confirmed that following weeks of talks, promises and false starts, a buyer could not be found and the company has had to cease trading.

"During recent months, the senior management team have worked tirelessly to bring new investment to the team to secure its long term future," said FRP Advisory in a statement, "but regrettably were been unable to do so within the time available and were left with no alternative but to place JRSL (Just Racing Services, Manor's parent company) into administration to protect the best interests of the underlying businesses and in order to continue a search for a buyer.

"Since their appointment earlier this month the joint administrators at FRP Advisory have continued to work, with the support of senior management, to try and secure new investment into the business resulting in negotiations with a number of interested parties. During that period funding was secured to ensure payment of all staff salaries until 31 January 2017.

"Regrettably since the appointment of administrators no investment has been secured in the limited time available to continue the Group in its present form.

"With no sustainable operational or financial structure in place to maintain the Group as a going concern, the joint administrators have now ceased trading JRSL and unfortunately have had to send all staff home from work today Friday 27 January.

"While all 212 staff will be paid on Tuesday 31 January, all but a small handful of staff are expected be made redundant by the end of January."

"It is deeply regrettable that the team has had cease trading and close its doors," added joint administrator Geoff Rowley. "Manor is a great name in British motorsport and the team has achieved a great deal over the past two years, invigorated under new ownership.

"Operating and running a F1 team to the high standards demanded however requires significant ongoing investment. Just Racing Services Limited was put into administration at the start of January shortly after attempts to sell the business fell through at the last hurdle.

"The administration process provided a moratorium to allow for attempts to secure a long term viable solution for the team within in a very limited time-frame but sadly no solution could be achieved to allow for the business to continue in its current form within what was a very tight time-frame.

"We would like to thank all the staff for their support and professionalism during this difficult process.

"We shall initiate a formal redundancy process for all staff on Tuesday, once they have been paid for the full month of January.

"As joint administrators our immediate focus will be to assist staff who will have lost their jobs and to provide them with the necessary support to submit timely claims to the Redundancy Payments Service."

Whatever the promises being made by the sport's new owners, and whatever the truth of them, it all appears to have come too late for the Banbury team, its workers and its fans.

In a week that has seen the sport change hands for billions, when shareholders sell their stakes for hundreds of millions how does one explain to an outsider that a team such as Manor couldn't be saved.

Manor, in another guise, was one of three teams enticed to enter the sport in 2010 by the promise of a level field in the form of a budget cap - much like we are still hearing.

All three teams have now gone under at a cost of God knows how many millions. And people wonder why the government will not assist the likes of Silverstone.

LATEST NEWS

more news >

LATEST IMAGES

galleries >

Click to go to the main galleries section

READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by cathalobrien, 31/01/2017 13:01

"@mickl, I think you are missing the point. Hass is doing something differently, if the success continues or not the question ask was, why didn't manor owners think of that. Why not get into bed with Ferrari, or Renault, or Merc? There is obviously reasons why but only Manor will know. They should of been realistic and used the resources of other teams to build up some momentum. You can always go it alone at a later time."

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

2. Posted by slracer, 29/01/2017 4:37

"@mickl - actually they scored 2 points as it was a ninth place finish, so change that 1 in the previous write up to 3 points in 132 races. Sorry, I have been proven to be human again! Regarding Haas, there is little need for Ferrari to provide "free wind tunnel" as Haas has their own program in the US where they do the NASCAR development (also effectively) and I really doubt that Ferrari supplies "anything" for free (but Haas might discount some of the best machine tools in the world to Ferrari). Not having seen the contract between the two companies, I withhold any comments on the technical details. Also, as I said "Time will tell..." but don't forget that Marussia also had a Ferrari engine for a while and there talk about technical support. We will see how Grosjean reacts to his new teammate. My comment remains that "somebody did something differently"!"

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

3. Posted by mickl, 28/01/2017 12:02

"@slracer- you obviously don't know history. Manor or Marussia scored a point previously in the 2014 season. They've managed to accomplish, for the budget that they've had, much more respectively than a lot of much better funded teams.

As regards Haas. Well, it's easier to score points when you've had about 18mths of funding and free wind tunnel and development work all paid for by Ferrari before they go racing and is effectively running a Ferrari rear end instead of doing everything from scratch. Now that they won't have that luxury for 2017, let's see if they can still do the same and if Grosjean won't be continuing to be slagging them off on the radio again."

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

4. Posted by slracer, 28/01/2017 4:18

"@ryanhellyer, I can't understand your logic! There were 2 owners prior to Manor and the lack of a budget cap was fully understood by their purchase. The team had been bleeding money since its inception so why would you continue "business as usual" and expect to succeed? Manor, in its various guises, ran for 7 seasons (132 races) and garnered 1 point (this final year). Haas has run for 1 season (21 races) and earned 29 points (almost all in the first half of the year). Time will tell if it continues well, but someone was doing something differently!"

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

5. Posted by ryanhellyer, 27/01/2017 17:45

"@slracer, Manor entered under the impression there would be a budget cap. Haas entered in full knowledge that things would be the way they were. I'm surprised Manor got to the grid at all in that situation."

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

6. Posted by slracer, 27/01/2017 17:13

"Instead of blaming a lack of funding and/or the new(or old) owners of the sport, perhaps it would be better to ask the question: "What did Haas do (with what budget?) to score 29 points in its FIRST season that no one else has ever done in the current era of F1? " It is NOT up to the governing body/owner/etc to make any entity successful, it is up to the participant."

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

7. Posted by DJ, 27/01/2017 16:36

"Just think what they could have done with half of that 80 million that Ferrari get for no apparent reason!!!"

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

8. Posted by White Lightning, 27/01/2017 14:25

"A bloody shame, and as has been noted in the article an event which does not fill one with confidence in the sport's new owners.

Hoping a rump of the team can stay together and get back to success in lower formulae.

Those in charge of setting up the 2010 entry model should be charged with bringing the sport into disrepute, if not outright fraud."

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

Manor ceases trading

LATEST NEWS

RELATED ARTICLES

LATEST IMAGES

POST A COMMENT

Post your comment

READERS COMMENTS

Share this page