Jobs at risk at Sussex clean energy company

3:20pm Thursday 18th October 2012 in News By John Keenan, business editor

More than 100 jobs are at risk at a clean energy company which is facing closure.

Ceres Power, based in Crawley and Horsham, has announced it has been unsuccessful in securing extra funding for the business.

It had £10.2million in cash at the end of June, but said at the time that it needed to raise more money by the end of September.

The firm, whose combined heat and power energy-efficient boiler has been repeatedly delayed, has now announced that it has failed to find new investors and could be wound down, putting up to 160 jobs at risk.

Shares in the company have plummeted from a high of 17.50p to 1.68p this year.

In a statement to the Stock Exchange, a spokesman for Ceres said: “The company will continue to explore all strategic options including a sale of the business, cancellation of the listing and, in the absence of any alternative proposals, commencement of an orderly wind down of the business.”

Henry Smith, Conservative MP for Crawley, said he was disappointed the firm had been unable to raise the investment.

He said: “I met recently with representatives from the Treasury and from the banks to encourage investment in the company because I think Ceres Power has innovative and interesting solutions.

“I’m sorry that they do not agree. That said, unemployment in the region continues to fall and this is a bump along the road to recovery.”

Wendy Bell, general manager at Sussex Enterprise, the county’s chamber of commerce, said: “It is disappointing to hear the announcement about the job losses at Ceres Power.

“Private sector companies are the lifeblood behind economic growth and are willing to create new jobs.

“Firms tell us they need access to capital so they can invest.

“Clearly, the government must implement more policies that |allow businesses to deliver growth, including the creation of a business bank.”

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Comments(5)

Knightly says...
3:32pm Thu 18 Oct 12

It is never good news when this many people lose their jobs in a town already on its knees with the loss of thousands from More Than (Royal and Sun Alliance) as a major employer and then Novartis shedding 900 jobs... It is becoming a ghost town.

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Hove Actually says...
3:38pm Thu 18 Oct 12

IF it had £10.2 million but needed more then it was always going to fail as that is a lot of cash to have and still not be enough to grow

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nocando says...
8:28pm Thu 18 Oct 12

10.2 million's not enough to set up an operation like the enviropower system at lancing which is obviously what they're trying to copy.Building the plant isn't the major obstacle, its jumping through the expensive hoops and hurdles that are imposed by the EU and the environment agency to justify their own existences.
Yet another case of taxpayer funded bureaucracy getting in the way of innovation, industry and the creation of income. When the endlessly trumpeted sustainable energy project can't get off the ground for red tape, what chance any other business ideas. Meanwhile we just keep paying for unelected, unaccountable clipboard warriors to charge round the countryside preventing other people from earning a living.
How do we get rid of these c***s?

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HJarrs says...
9:36pm Thu 18 Oct 12

nocando wrote:
10.2 million's not enough to set up an operation like the enviropower system at lancing which is obviously what they're trying to copy.Building the plant isn't the major obstacle, its jumping through the expensive hoops and hurdles that are imposed by the EU and the environment agency to justify their own existences.
Yet another case of taxpayer funded bureaucracy getting in the way of innovation, industry and the creation of income. When the endlessly trumpeted sustainable energy project can't get off the ground for red tape, what chance any other business ideas. Meanwhile we just keep paying for unelected, unaccountable clipboard warriors to charge round the countryside preventing other people from earning a living.
How do we get rid of these c***s?
Are we reading the same article? Where does it say red tape canned the company?

It is a great shame that Ceres is folding, I was looking forward to the launch and rollout of the innovative fuel cell boilers.

I wonder what the real reason for failure was? A product that could not be made to work economically? Or the City's notorious inability to raise money for innovative manufacture.

If the product was viable, in Germany it would have been funded by a regional development bank or other source of funding.

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Plantpot says...
7:46am Fri 19 Oct 12

HJarrs wrote:
nocando wrote:
10.2 million's not enough to set up an operation like the enviropower system at lancing which is obviously what they're trying to copy.Building the plant isn't the major obstacle, its jumping through the expensive hoops and hurdles that are imposed by the EU and the environment agency to justify their own existences.
Yet another case of taxpayer funded bureaucracy getting in the way of innovation, industry and the creation of income. When the endlessly trumpeted sustainable energy project can't get off the ground for red tape, what chance any other business ideas. Meanwhile we just keep paying for unelected, unaccountable clipboard warriors to charge round the countryside preventing other people from earning a living.
How do we get rid of these c***s?
Are we reading the same article? Where does it say red tape canned the company?

It is a great shame that Ceres is folding, I was looking forward to the launch and rollout of the innovative fuel cell boilers.

I wonder what the real reason for failure was? A product that could not be made to work economically? Or the City's notorious inability to raise money for innovative manufacture.

If the product was viable, in Germany it would have been funded by a regional development bank or other source of funding.
A quick read through the discussion session at this site, Interactive Investor, will give you some opinions:

http://www.iii.co.uk
/investment/detail?c
ode=cotn:CWR.L&displ
ay=discussion&it=le

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