UK electric van initiate Arrival goes into administration

Arrival, a UK-based start-up which hoped to launch electric vans, has called in administrators from EY after it became insolvent.

Its assets, including electric vehicle designs, software, mental property and R&D assets, will now be offered on the market by the administrators.

Founded in Banbury, Oxfordshire, in 2015 by Russian billionnaire Denis Sverdlov, Arrival aimed to make electric vans and taxis cheaply and easily, and it floated on America’s Nasdaq stock market  in 2021, briefly gaining a valuation of $13bn (£9bn).

However it struggled to show its designs into production reality, and last 12 months it declared it could switch production from the UK to the US and slash its workforce.

The administrators said Arrival UK and Arrival Automotive employed 172 people. Nearly 40 have been made redundant, while others are being retained to help with the sale of the business and assets.

At the tip of January, the corporate said its shares had been suspended from trading on the stock market, and it had been told they might be faraway from the Nasdaq index.

At one point Arrival received investment from vehicle manufacturer Hyundai and logistics firm UPS, and UPS publicly placed an order for 10,000 electric vans from Arrival.

While the UK businesses are insolvent, the corporate said all of Arrival’s other subsidiaries will proceed their activities as usual outside of the administration process.