12:18 pm, March 31, 2023
Land Rover Defender restorer Spirit of 48 has gone into administration along with its parent company.
Previously known as LR Motors, Spirit of 48 – which had its head office and main workshop in Thirsk as well as an office in Germany – had only just changed its name in January this year.
The new name reflected the year of the first launch of the Land Rover Defender, and the company’s website said: ‘Our new name and identity reflects who we are and what is really at the heart of this business.’
The website added that the company, which also adapted Defenders, was ‘adopting modern practices and craftsmanship and applying them to the Defender family’.
Spirit of 48 was part of the ARM Automotive Group, which also sells quad bikes, and Spirit’s parent firm – ARM Automotive Yorkshire – has also gone into administration.
A statement cited ‘escalating financial pressure’ as the reason for the collapse of ARM Automotive Yorkshire and Spirit of 48.
The group’s funding provider – which Car Dealer has been told is ABD Finance Ltd – appointed Mark Ranson and Emma Mifsud from Opus Restructuring LLP as administrators to both companies on March 16, and they are seeking buyers for the assets.
They’re also determining the companies’ financial position and working with commercial property agents and chartered surveyors Sanderson Weatherall to get as much as possible for the assets and the businesses.
Creditors won’t know how much they’ll get – if anything – until the administrators’ investigation is completed.
Spirit of 48 and ARM Automotive Yorkshire stopped trading straight away on the administrators’ appointment, with 17 members of staff laid off and two kept on to help the administrators.
Ranson said: ‘Our initial focus is on identifying the financial picture at the two companies so that we can find buyers for the assets and return any third-party items to their beneficial owners.
‘Any parties interested in acquiring the business and/or making use of its premises should contact us as soon as possible.’
As well as its restoration and adaptation work, Spirit of 48 also sold Defenders and offered servicing plus MOT repairs.
Its website is currently still up and running but its Facebook page is showing a message saying the content isn’t available.
Image courtesy of Opus Restructuring LLP
