Cupar-based oil and gas safety services company Sabre Safety has gone into administration.
Twenty-three staff have been made redundant at the main office in Fife and another seven in Aberdeen.
A core staff of 15 have been retained to help joint administrators Blair Nimmo and Tony Friar of KPMG safeguard the company’s assets and explore the possibility of selling the operation as a going concern.
Sabre Safety helps UK and international clients with safe working environments. It also supplies breathing apparatus and gas detection systems for rental or sale.
It has been adversely affected by the downturn in the oil and gas sector to the extent that its turnover reduced from around £13 million in 2014 to £5.5m last year.
It was unable to reduce overheads in line with declining sales levels and also suffered contractual problems in its Italian division, leading to significant losses in 2016.
Efforts to find a buyer or fresh investment attracted some some interest but ultimately failed.
Blair Nimmo said: “Sabre Safety Limited is a well-established specialist in offshore and onshore gas safety and protection services and products.
“The company director explored a range of options to secure the future of the business and while we believe there have been expressions of interest recently, a deal could not be finalised.
“It is highly regrettable that so many redundancies have been required. We hope that the key assets and infrastructure of Sabre Safety will be attractive to other operators in the sector. With that in mind, we are welcoming early notices of interest.”
The joint administrators are working with all employees affected by redundancies to provide guidance and support through the appropriate agencies.
