Begbies Traynor appointed as Formula K administrator

Begbies Traynor has announced that it has been appointed as administrator to North Wales based company Formula K International.

Formula K is a company that supplied go-karts and leisure vehicles for the amusement industry around the world.

The family-owned company was launched in 1997 by Graham Liddle, a four times Go Kart world champion.

It was the first manufacturer in Great Britain to specialise in go-karts and small cars for the leisure industry.

Turnover according to its latest set of accounts was £537,000 and the company employed eight people.

Paul Stanley, regional managing partner of Begbies Traynor, said: “Covid forced the global leisure industry into lengthy lockdowns and the knock-on effect continues. Two core markets for this business in theme parks and indoor play areas faced the harshest lockdowns of all sectors which had a major impact on cashflow.

“More recently, global supply chain issues caused by inflation and delays to shipments of materials into the UK left the company unable to fulfil orders for the first time in its history, despite demand. This has been a well-run and respected business for decades but it has been hit hard by external factors outside of its control.”

Liddle added: “I explored every single avenue to rescue the business and save the jobs of my trusted employees but realistically had no other choice but to place the company I founded more than 25 years ago into administration.

“The irony is that we received two large orders in the past few weeks but given the uncertainty of the supply chain of goods required to build the products we just couldn’t guarantee the clients that the orders could be completed.”