Mark Orton, Will Wright and Jonny Marston from KPMG have been appointed joint administrators to Unipart Automotive Ltd, which is headquarted in Solihull. The company operates a network of 180 branches and distribution hubs trading under the Unipart Automotive, Partco Autoparts, and Express Factors brands. It employs 1,813 people.

The Unipart Automotive distribution business, previously known as Partco, was sold by Unipart Group in 2011. Unipart Group retained a passive equity stake, and a condition of the sale was that Unipart Group exercised no control over the business.

Immediately upon appointment, the administrators sold part of the business in a joint deal to Andrew Page, a distributor of car parts, workshop equipment, tools and diagnostics, and The Parts Alliance.

The deal will see Andrew Page acquire 21 branches and The Parts Alliance a total of 12. A total of 361 staff employed across these sites have transferred to Andrew Page and The Parts Alliance with immediate effect. 

However, the remainder of the Unipart Automotive business has ceased to trade with 1,244 members of staff being made redundant. A total of 208 members of staff have been retained to assist the administrators.

Mark Orton, partner at KPMG and joint administrator, said: ‘Despite intensive efforts over recent weeks, a sale of the whole Unipart Automotive business could not be reached, and a buyer could only be found for 33 of the sites on a going concern basis.

'Unfortunately, the business had been experiencing financial stress for a number of years, so the level of cash and further operational restructuring required to rescue a more substantial part of the business posed too much risk for most interested parties.’   

The company also directly supports over 700 independent, owner-operated garages through its Unipart Car Care Centre programme, in addition to having 19 franchisees. These companies fall outside of the administration and will continue to operate as normal.

John Neill, chairman and chief executive of the Unipart Group, said: ‘We are saddened by the Unipart Automotive situation and even though we sold control of this business years ago, we are concerned for the future of the employees.

‘We have recently been able to work constructively and collaboratively with Andrew Page and are pleased that they have been able to save 33 branches and around 350 jobs.

'They have a strong reputation for selling high quality products and brands and we look forward to making available a supply of high quality Unipart branded products to Britain’s car owners and Unipart Car Care Centres.’