All staff redundant as UK electric car firm in administration

Electric vehicle (EV) charging company EO Car Chargers collapsed earlier in April after it experienced “challenging trading conditions in recent years”, the business said.

At the time of the administrator’s appointment, 97 people were employed, but this was reduced to 25 shortly afterwards and for a “limited period” while the company wound down.

Administrators have now said that EO Car Chargers grew rapidly on the back of external investment and demand for fleet electrification.

But it remained loss-making due to heavy spending on international expansion, product development and market growth.

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A 2025 restructuring, including a US exit and shift towards software and services, was followed by a £10m shareholder recapitalisation, but delays in fundraising damaged customer confidence and worsened liquidity.

After a failed sale process and limited investor interest, the company entered administration in April 2026, with operations continuing on a reduced basis while assets were realised, they said.

EO Car Chargers built EV charging infrastructure, software and round-the-clock repair and incident support services.

It also partnered with Oxford-based EV Charging Company to provide charging stations to households and businesses across Oxfordshire.

Joint administrator Victoria Hatton said in a new report: “Despite securing both equity and debt funding, the company continued to incur significant trading losses and consume cash as it invested in overseas expansion, product development and market share growth.

“The establishment and operation of subsidiaries in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Italy increased the scale and complexity of the group, requiring substantial upfront investment before those operations could reach sustainable profitability.

“Although losses narrowed in certain areas in recent years, the business remained loss-making overall.

“During 2025, the group undertook a strategic restructuring aimed at reducing costs, improving capital efficiency and refocusing on its core strengths.”

She said the second half of 2025 saw its UK installation arm of the business scaled back, with the company refocusing on its cloud-based charge point management platform, EO Cloud.

“However, uncertainty and delays during the fundraising process adversely affected customer confidence,” she added.

“This led to a deterioration in the company’s pipeline and order book, placing further pressure on short-term liquidity. Despite completion of the fundraising, liquidity challenges subsequently re-emerged.

Approximately 90 parties from across the trade and investor community — including international buyers and specialist turnaround investors — were approached over a short period by the administrators.

But interest was described as “limited”, with potential parties citing the accelerated timetable, uncertainty surrounding the restructuring process and the level of investment required, Ms Hatton said.

The joint administrators were appointed on April 8. The business continued to trade on a limited basis where appropriate, and customers were supported in transitioning to alternative suppliers where possible, subject to payment.