A Midland manufacturing expert has said aerospace engineering firm Hampson Industries paid the price for its ambition after it collapsed.
The Brierley Hill-based company, which makes tools for the production of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, called in administrators after amassing a debt pile of £55 million.
The company went on to become one of the regions biggest aerospace firms when it was founded by Thomas Hampson-Silk 65 years ago, but now only employs a handful of people in the region.
Rachel Eade, supply chain specialist at Manufacturing Advisory Service, said the company was paying the price for over-stretching itself and its collapse would mean job losses elsewhere in the supply chain.
She said: This business failure has come out of a company trying to be successful and grow, so it is sad.
In essence, for whatever reason they overstretched and didnt do their due diligence properly and were caught.
There will be a big impact on the supply chain because Hampson Industries was a key supplier.
The company, which supplies tools and components to planemakers Airbus and Boeing, suspended its shares earlier this year after struggling to find a buyer.
It appointed Simon Kirkhope and Chad Griffin of FTI Consulting as administrators last night, putting jobs in Dudley and Wigan, as well as 1,100 in the US under threat.
However, Ms Eade believes there will be interest from potential buyers now it has collapsed.
She said: Aerospace is a growth market with good profit margins, and there are good opportunities out there.
I am sure there will be interest and hopefully the jobs will be preserved. You would think whoever would want to buy it would want to keep the skills.
