Rotolight goes into administration, but "remains hopeful" the brand will continue

Rotolight, the British maker of specialist lighting equipment used by everyone from amateur photographers to big-budget Hollywood productions, has entered administration.

I spoke to Rotolight this morning, which confirmed the situation.

"The business is in administration, although we remain hopeful that the brand may have a future."

It's no secret that the economy has been hit hard around the world, with British businesses facing their most challenging time since the 2008 global financial crisis. According to a GOV.UK report for Q3 2023, "This quarter saw the highest quarterly total insolvencies since Q4 2008 and the highest quarterly number of CVLs [creditors' voluntary liquidations] since the start of the time series in 1960."

Rotolight has had an extraordinary history over the past 14 years. A family-run business, it started from a garden shed and bloomed into a hugely successful enterprise that racked up well over 40 awards for innovation.

It sold some 150,000 lights, which were used by feature films such as Ghostbusters: Afterlife and the James Bond movie Skyfall , as well as shows like Gray's Anatomy and Amazon's The Expanse .

As a Rotolight user myself, I have been wowed by products such as the Aeos 2 Pro and the Rotolight SmartSoft Box , which I called "the future of lighting" . I certainly hope that the brand finds a way forward.

What is administration?

"When a company goes into administration, they have entered a legal process (under the Insolvency Act 1986) with the aim of achieving one of the statutory objectives of an administration," explains GOV.UK.

"An appointment of an administrator (a licensed insolvency practitioner) will be made by directors, a creditor or the court to fulfil the administration process.

"The administration puts in place a statutory moratorium. This is a 'breathing space' that frees a company from creditor enforcement actions, while financial restructuring plans are prepared to rescue the company as a going concern where possible. This may take the form of a sale to an unrelated party."

"If it cannot be reasonably saved, the administrator will aim to achieve a better return for creditors than would be likely if the company were wound up (without first being in administration)."

Jonathan Bass and Giuseppe Parla of Menzies LLP have been appointed as joint administrators of Rotolight Group Ltd.

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