Dozens of jobs have been lost after a Scottish oil and gas safety specialist went into administration due to the Brent crude price plunge.
Sabre Safety Ltd saw its turnover reduce by more than half in the two and a half years since global oil prices started to slide.
The business, which has headquarters in Cupar, Fife and premises in Aberdeen, provided customers with offshore and onshore safety solutions as well as offering specialist risk management.
Blair Nimmo and Tony Friar of KPMG were appointed as joint administrators on January 31.
A total of 30 employees were made redundant as a result. The remaining 15 staff, mostly based in Cupar, are helping administrators safeguard assets while the possible sale of the business is considered.
A statement from KPMG said: “Sabre Safety has been adversely affected by the downturn in the oil and gas sector to the extent that its turnover reduced from around £13m in 2014 to £5.5m in 2016.
“The company was unable to reduce overheads in line with declining sales levels and also suffered contractual problems in its Italian division.
“These factors led to significant losses being incurred during 2016.”
The company, which was established in 2001, failed to find a buyer or fresh investment in the latter part of 2016 to support losses.
Nimmo, the UK Head of Restructuring at KPMG, said it was “highly regrettable” that so many redundancies were required.
“Sabre Safety Limited is a well-established specialist in offshore and onshore gas safety and protection services and products.
“Unfortunately the company has suffered a significant drop in sales due to the reduced levels of activity in the oil and gas sector.
“The company director explored a range of options to secure the future of the business and while we believe there have been expressions of interest recently, a deal could not be finalised.
“We hope that the key assets and infrastructure of Sabre Safety will be attractive to other operators in the sector. With that in mind, we are welcoming early notices of interest.”