Collapsed South West aerospace and tech company Electroflight has been sold off in its entirety, saving all jobs within the business.
The Gloucestershire-based firm, which developed the battery for Rolls-Royce’s world-record-breaking all-electric aircraft, appointed administrators on Monday (July 11).
On Friday, business advisory firm Milsted Langdon confirmed Electroflight’s assets were sold “as a whole” to Oxfordshire-based motor firm Evolito, which was part of YASA Motors until its spin-out last year. YASA Motors was also involved in the development of Rolls-Royce’s Spirit of Innovation all-electric plane project.
According to Milsted Langdon, the directors of Electroflight brought in restructuring and insolvency experts to advise on the future of the business following a period seeking additional investment to take the organisation “to the next level”.
Milsted Langdon partner Simon Rowe said: “I am pleased we have delivered this transaction, completing the sale to an organisation who shares Electroflight’s passion for sustainable mobility. We achieved a sale of the company’s assets as a whole, which greatly exceed the break-up sale valuation. In addition, all staff transferred to the purchaser, which managed to avoid any redundancies.”
Last year, Electroflight was heavily involved in Rolls-Royce’s project to break the fastest all-electric flight world record – and it achieved its goal in November.
The Electric NXT or E-NXT single-seater racing aircraft had a 400kW powertrain that included three electric motors developed by YASA and a 6,000-cell lithium-ion battery system supplied by Electroflight.
The aircraft took off from the Ministry of Defence’s Boscombe Down site in Wiltshire, flown by former RAF pilot Phill O’Dell, and reached a top speed of 345.4mph over three kilometres, breaking the existing record by 132mph.
In further runs at the experimental aircraft testing site, the plane reached 330mph over 15 kilometres – 182mph faster than the previous record – and broke the fastest time to climb to 3,000 metres by 60 seconds, with a time of 202 seconds.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said last year the “revolutionary” Spirit of Innovation aircraft was “proof” of the UK’s “enviable credentials” when it came to innovation.
