ADMINISTRATORS have been appointed for a small part of the foundering Southampton yacht builders Oyster.

Neil Gostelow and Mark Orton of KPMG Restructuring have been appointed joint administrators to Oyster Marine Holdings Ltd, holding company for the Oyster Yacht based at Saxon Wharf in Northam.

The company also trades from Wherstead in Suffolk and has only two employees.

KPMG said Oyster Marine Holdings owns the intellectual property to all the technical drawings and moulds used in the production of the yachts in the Oyster range.

It said the company’s main trading business, Oyster Yachts, is considering its options after failing to secure sufficient funding to continue trading..

"No other companies within the group form part of this particular administration," said a statement issued by KPMG.

The Oyster Group comprises Oyster Marine Ltd, Oyster Brokerage Ltd and Southampton Yacht Services Ltd. The firm has offices in Ipswich, Wroxam in Norfolk, Mallorca and Newport, Rhode Island. It employs 160 in Southampton and a total of 400 across all its sites.

Mr Gostelow said: “Late last week, the company directors confirmed that they had been unable to secure the financial support they needed to continue to trade the business. Our immediate priority will be to seek a buyer for the business and its assets and would encourage any interested parties to contact us as soon as possible.”

News of Oyster's demise on Tuesday rocked the yachting world as the company had recently reported an order book worth £80m.

Staff had been given a letter saying the company had "run out of cash" was shutting down operations immediately and was likely "to have to make all of its employees redundant".

Yesterday Oyster CEO David Tydeman told SuperyachtNews.com: “We are not in administration at the moment and we are not in liquidation. Yesterday, however, we did start a consultation with all staff about potential redundancy, because we do not have the means to pay them at the moment.”

Interested parties can contact William Lewis in the administration team on 07771 555540 or william.lewis@kpmg.co.uk.