All jobs lost as UK’s ‘next Concorde’ collapses into administration

The undisclosed firm bought the concept of Reaction Engines, which fell into administration in October 2024.

Based at Culham Science Park near Abingdon, the company developer hypersonic propulsion.

Around 170 out of its 208 employees were immediately made redundant.

Some 35 were kept on to help wind down operations and complete existing orders, administrators PwC said.

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The transaction from the undisclosed buyer, completed in April, marks the latest development in the winding-up process.

In their most recent progress report covering the six months to the end of April, PwC confirmed the deal but did not reveal the purchase price.

Non-refundable deposits totalling £884,000 have been received, a sum previously used by Reaction Engines’ directors to value the intellectual property in an earlier report.

The buyer’s identity has not been disclosed, with PwC expected to provide more information in a future update.

Reaction Engines was best known for its SABRE hypersonic engine project.

But its thermal management and heat-exchanger technologies are believed to have broader commercial appeal within the aerospace industry.

Before entering administration, the company supplied these systems to a Honeywell Aerospace-led consortium developing a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain as part of an EU Clean Aviation-funded initiative.

With the sale of the intellectual property complete, PwC said it expects to fully satisfy claims from preferential creditors, mainly employees and HM Revenue and Customs.

Unsecured creditors, including suppliers, are estimated to recover between 10 and 50 per cent of their claims.

Last December, the administrators put the firm’s total deficiency at over £160 million, including now-worthless shareholdings of more than £150 million.

Founded in 1989, Reaction Engines received backing from major aerospace firms such as BAE Systems, Boeing and Rolls-Royce, as well as the UAE’s Strategic Development Fund.

The business ultimately folded after failing to secure vital funding in late 2024.

Sarah O’Toole, joint administrator and partner at PwC, said: “It’s with great sadness that a pioneering company with a 35-year history of spearheading aerospace innovation has unfortunately been unable to raise the funding required to continue operations.”

Reaction Engines was previously dubbed the ‘Concorde successor’ due to its innovation.

It was reported at the time that Reaction Engines had needed around £20 million in additional funding to keep going.

But when hopeful talks faltered, strategic shareholders BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce Holdings were left unwilling to bail it out.

Former chief executive Mark Thomas previously told BusinessCloud: “We’re looking beyond the next Concorde… we’re looking to go hypersonic – which is more than double the speed again.

“And that’s a completely different threat domain.”