United Tooling Solutions enters administration, 75 jobs cut

United Tooling Solutions Limited and subsidiary Grahams Machinery Sales Limited have entered administration after mounting liquidity pressure and unsuccessful efforts to secure additional funding left the industrial supplies businesses unable to continue operating at their previous scale.

Kristopher Aspin, Sam Woodward and Lucy Winterborne of EY-Parthenon were appointed joint administrators on 18 June 2026 by the companies’ directors.

The Leicestershire-based group supplied tooling, machinery and maintenance, repair and operations products to more than 20,000 customers across sectors including manufacturing and engineering. It operated through 11 branches under brands including Scott Direct, Grahams Machinery Sales, Drakes Tooling & Abrasives, Jaymac and Bideford Tool.

The businesses employed approximately 135 people before the appointments. Around 75 employees have been made redundant as operations have largely ceased, with a smaller workforce retained to assist the administrators with the wind-down and asset realisation process.

United Tooling Solutions had experienced a prolonged period of difficult trading and tightening liquidity. Management pursued additional financing to support continued operations but was unable to obtain the funding required.

The group’s financial position had also been affected by the October 2024 collapse of former parent Troy (UK) Limited, later renamed Industrial Investment Holdings Limited. United Tooling Solutions said the failure disrupted supply arrangements and materially reduced revenue and profitability during the final quarter of that year. The business subsequently separated from the wider Troy network and began operating independently.

EY said the companies cannot be rescued as going concerns. The administrators will oversee an orderly wind-down and seek buyers for their remaining assets.