CIE Well Control supply-chain SME sinks into Administration with loss of 20 jobs in Aberdeen

The economic fall-out from the slump in crude oil prices has flipped another Aberdeen-based supply chain SME business into Administration with the loss of 21 jobs.

KPMG has been appointed as Administrator to CIE Well Control Ltd at the request of Gordon Green, managing director.

CIE provided a range of subsea and surface engineering services to the oil and gas industry, including design, precision engineering, welding and fabrication, assembly and testing.

Last year, it began to encounter a fall in client orders, as oil and gas operators began to cut costs and actively target reductions in both capital and operating expenditure.  With the reduction in the volume of work available, margins were continually squeezed as competitors forced pricing downwards. 

This resulted in cash resources being depleted and finally required the directors to call in the Administrators last week.

At the time of appointment, CIE was working on a number of ongoing projects for customers but did not have sufficient resources to complete the contracts. 

A KPGM spokesman said: “Due to the limited funds available and uncertainty concerning CIE’s ability to complete the contracts, it has been necessary to implement 21 redundancies.   The remaining two employees of CIE have been retained to assist the Joint Administrators to realise the company’s assets and to help market the business and assets for sale.

“CIE has a strong reputation in its markets together with an asset base which will be of interest to a number of parties, principally comprising its forward order book with a blue chip client base and a variety of machinery in addition to intellectual property.

“Our appointment is yet another example of a business in the sector which has been negatively impacted by the low oil price and the consequent reduction in upstream activity resulting in cash flow challenges.”