Workers at troubled metal recycling company Cupral Group have seen their jobs saved thanks to a new deal.

Administrators were appointed to the Middlesbrough business earlier this month but say there was strong interest in a takeover, which has rescued 30 jobs. Insolvency experts at FRP Advisory said a "particularly complex" deal was negotiated with another, unconnected metal recycling business which has now secured the future of the Tees Advanced Manufacturing Park business.

Cupral was set up in 2018 to upgrade copper and aluminium into high purity, low carbon materials that are "furnace ready". The firm was owned by Hong Kong-based investment company PT International Development Corporation Limited.

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The most recent annual report for PT, for 2023, includes detail on the performance of Cupral, saying it faced challenges in the shape of rising energy costs brought on by the war in Ukraine. The Hong Kong owners said the Teesside firm had seen continued cost cutting and boosted efficiencies at the plant which had brought it closer to cashflow breakeven point.

At the time, PT said its board remained a "believer" in the European circular economy story and that it was working with Cupral to find alternative finance to boost its balance sheet, in a bid to increase revenue and profitability of the business. Cupral's own most recent accounts, for the year to the end of March 2023, partially show the financial status of the firm including £7.2m of net current liabilities.

Martyn Pullin, restructuring advisory partner at FRP, said: “Despite recent financial challenges, the strength of Cupral’s operations ensured there was significant appetite for it to continue trading under new ownership. This was a particularly complex deal, involving multiple stakeholders and time zones, so we are pleased to have delivered a solution which sees Cupral’s business sold, securing its future and, critically, preserving the roles of its employees.”

Sanderson Weatherall and Endeavour Partnership provided advisory services as part of the marketing and sale process.