BRUSH Barclay is the new name adopted for the former Hunslet-Barclay Ltd, after FKI announced on November 12 that it was paying £2·1m to acquire the assets of the rolling stock engineering business on behalf of Brush Traction.
On October 26 KPMG Restructuring had announced the appointment of joint administrators for the Kilmarnock-based company, which was part of the Austrian-owned Waagner Biro group. Turnover for the 2006 calendar year was £9m and a target of £10m was expected to be met in 2007, but 'production inefficiencies and difficulties on certain refurbishment contracts led to significant trading losses', and the business went into administration following 'serious cash flow difficulties'. Joint administrator Blair Nimmo said Hunslet-Barclay had 'endured a tough time over the last couple of years as the company focused on quality, possibly at the expense of efficiency.'
FKI said the acquisition fitted in with its strategy of moving Brush Traction's business to include multiple-unit refurbishment, enabling the firm to undertake work on passenger stock and providing a 'strategically important site in Scotland.'
