A British equipment and machinery business has gone into administration, leading to 75 positions being eliminated.
United Tooling Solutions Limited, located in Leicestershire, provided tooling, maintenance, repair, and operations equipment operating under various brand names, including:
Grahams Machinery Sales
Drakes Tooling & Abrasives
Jaymac
Scott Direct
Bideford Tool
The business had approximately 135 workers spread across 11 British locations, according to Business Sale Report, serving over 20,000 customers throughout numerous industries.
United Tooling Solutions Limited enters administration
United Tooling Solutions experienced a stretch of difficult trading conditions and cash flow problems in recent months, Business Sale Report added.
Despite attempts by the leadership team, they could not obtain the necessary capital to keep the business running.
The firm has now entered administration, with Kristopher Aspin from Ernst & Young LLP named administrator on June 18, The Gazette indicates.
United Tooling Solutions has now substantially stopped trading, with 75 workers losing their positions.
A number of employees have been kept on to assist the administrators with the process.
Administrators are currently examining options to extract value from company assets.
Group accounts for the year concluding December 31, 2024, reveal United Tooling Solutions posted revenue of £56.2 million, an increase from £47.3 million the prior year, according to Business Sale Report.
However, operating losses escalated dramatically to almost £3.3 million, rising from just over £355,000 in 2023.
Losses before tax also grew from £11.5 million to £15.8 million.
The leadership attributed the collapse to multiple issues, including the failure of parent company Troy (UK) Limited in October 2024.
In their year-end report, they stated this occurrence and following supply chain constraints produced a substantial negative effect on income and profitable outcomes during the last three months of 2024.
Other British companies that have shut down or entered administration/liquidation in 2026
It has been a difficult year for the British retail sector, with several other retailers going into administration or liquidation and others revealing extensive store closure programmes.
Major retail brands LK Bennett, Claire’s, and Quiz have been compelled to shut all their remaining outlets after entering administration.
British fashion retailer Leading Labels is also preparing to close its final 15 stores after entering liquidation.
TG Jones will likewise be shutting 150 outlets throughout Britain as part of a restructuring strategy approved by the High Court on Wednesday.
Other retailers have been obligated to close stores this year, including:
River Island
Primark
Poundland
Revolution
BrewDog
Franco Manca
Several British travel businesses have also stopped trading or entered administration in 2026:
Regen Central Ltd
Gold Crest Holidays
Asiara UK Ltd
Simply Florida Travel Ltd
Trav Expert Ltd
Strachan Travel Ltd
Travel Bespoke Ltd
Groupia Ltd
Luxury British holiday firm Salamander Voyages ceased operations back in April after entering administration.
Meanwhile, four British airlines have gone into administration or liquidation:
Ascend Airways (liquidation)
EcoJet Airlines (liquidation)
Zenith Aviation Limited (administration)
European Cargo (administration)
British delivery firm Yodel is set to be gradually phased out over the coming months after being purchased by InPost.
It has also been reported that Morrisons is seeking to sell some of its in-store pharmacies as it continues to reduce expenditure.
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It has not all been negative news for the British high street, with several major brands revealing new store openings for 2026, including Aldi, M&S, and Superdrug.
Plus-size clothing brand Evans also returned to the British high street recently after closing all its stores and concessions in December 2020.
Which company/store closure in 2026 has impacted you the most? Let us know in the comments below.