Having a former chief inspector on your board is no help when police forces are cutting back, it would seem.
Shieldtech, which supplies body armour to nearly half the UK's police forces as well as military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, has called in administrators after running into financial trouble. With a fall in demand for its products by cash-strapped police forces, it had been looking at several options to raise money, including new invoice discounting facilities and a possible equity fundraising. It was also considering a sale of its main Aegis Engineering subsidiary.
But its bank decided to put the proceeds of a recent Turkish contract into an escrow account as security for its loan, hitting its working capital. With the company unable to raise funds due to the uncertainty over future orders, it has now appointed RSM Tenon as adminstrators.
The company employs 74 staff including 5 directors - one of whom is Sir Keith Povey, formerly chief inspector of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary. Its shares were suspended on Monday at 2.5p valuing it at just over £1m.
