British electric motor developer Saietta has gone into administration after running into cashflow problems.

The Silverstone-based company built lightweight axial flux traction motors aimed at smaller EVs, such as motorbikes and three-wheelers.

It was unable to keep itself afloat after backing out of a deal earlier this year to contract-manufacture electric steering pumps at its plant in Sunderland.

Saietta put itself up for sale in February but as of 4 March hadn’t received an offer with enough cash attached to keep it going, it said in a filing to the London Stock Exchange. 

In its accounts for the financial year ending March 31 2023, Saietta reported that it employed 189 people, 127 of them in the UK and 62 in the Netherlands. 

Chairman Tony Gott said in statement: “On behalf of the board, I express to our staff, shareholders and all other affected stakeholders our deepest regret that we are having to take the very difficult decision to appoint administrators.

"The board remains hopeful that a solvent solution for the company can be found.”

Discussions with potential buyers will continue while Saietta is in administration, the company said.

Saietta made both biscuit-tin-shaped axial flux motors and cylindrical radial flux motors. It had in recent years focused on expansion in the Indian two- and three-wheeler markets via a joint venture with local automotive supplier Padmini VNA.

Last November, it said it had struck a deal with an unnamed Indian vehicle manufacturer to supply both its axial flux and radial motors for a three-wheeler, with production of the axial flux vehicle due to start in October 2024.

In 2022, Saietta was handed a £2.6 million grant from the UK government-backed Advanced Propulsion Centre to help build a factory to produce 150,000 units per year of its axial flux motor, creating between 150 and 250 new jobs. 

However, it struggled to find its niche in the fast-changing landscape of electrification.

Its plan to retrofit diesel buses with electric motors was discontinued after it judged the operation was “non-core and too capital-intensive”, according to its 2023 company report.

The commercial vehicle business in the Netherlands was sold to CV parts supplier Conmet in August last year.

The marine division was also discontinued.

Saietta lost £28.3 million before tax in the financial year ending March 2023, up from £11.1m in 2022. 

However, its smaller motors were seen as superior in the market. “Their tech was especially good,” one UK-based customer building small EVs told Autocar.