27/01/2017
NEWS STORY
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.