Jensen calls in administrators

LUXURY car-maker Jensen Motors is to go into administration after a deal fell through over the weekend, it was confirmed. A spokesman for Jensen said: 'The directors have recommended going into administration to give the company breathing space.'

The administrators are understood to be accountancy firm PKF, although Jensen would not confirm this.

The decision comes after turnaround specialist The MacDonald Partnership walked away from a deal at the weekend after coming up against 'unexpected problems'.

The company said it had faced 'irresolvable issues and have consequently withdrawn' from the deal, although it said at some stage it might consider looking at the company again.

A spokesman at MacDonald gave some hope a deal could be resurrected. 'We are still interested and will look at the company again later this week,' he said.

MacDonald was understood to have put forward a proposal which would have seen it invest capital in Jensen and become a majority shareholder. Production was then likely to move abroad, to a cheaper country such as South Africa. A spokesman for MacDonald could not say what the unexpected problems with the deal were.

Jensen, which makes the £40,000 Jensen SV8 roadster, last week made its entire workforce redundant. Its 40 workers were laid off on Monday and officially made redundant on Friday. Jensen, famous for its Interceptor car, was established in the 1930s and ceased production in the late 1970s before its reinvention at Speke, Merseyside, in the 1990s.