Yahoo Finance The Bloodhound LSR Land Speed Record Project Is On
Update 12/17/2018: The Bloodhound SSC Project is back, renamed Bloodhound LSR.
Just ten days after the announcement that its assets will have to be sold off, the Bloodhound Project's entire $33 million business was bought by Yorkshire-based entrepreneur Ian Warhurst, which means Britain's 1000mph dream is back on once again.
Joint administrator Andrew Sheridan said that having missed their original deadline, without the continued support of the Ministry of Defense and jet powerhouse Rolls-Royce Holdings, this deal couldn't have happened. The buyer, Ian Warhurst is the managing director of Melett, a turbocharger repair kit supplier company. The Bloodhound team says "he will bring considerable expertise to bear in taking the project forward."
Amen to that, and Merry Christmas to all involved!
Update: 12/7/2018: It's officially over.
As the BBC reports, despite the management's best efforts, Bloodhound Programme Ltd. couldn't find the required $33 million before the deadline, which put an end to Britain's 1000mph land speed dream.
Joint administrator Andrew Sheridan added the following:
Since [going into administration] we have worked tirelessly with the directors to identify a suitable individual or organization who could take the project forward. Despite overwhelming public support, and engagement with a wide range of potential and credible investors, it has not been possible to secure a purchaser for the business and assets. We will now work with key stakeholders to return the third-party equipment and then sell the remaining assets of the company to maximize the return for creditors.
This is bitter news not just for Britain, the Bloodhound team and all of their supporters, but also for science, and all who believe that pushing the bounders is the core of progress.
10/15/2018: The Bloodhound SSC needs $33 million to survive.
Project Bloodhound's main sponsors include Geely, Rolls-Royce PLC, Castrol and Norwegian aerospace and defense company Nammo, but over a hundred companies have contributed towards the British 1000mph land speed record dream. Yet eleven years after its start, Bloodhound Programme Ltd. has issued the following statement today:
Bloodhound Programme Ltd, the company behind Project Bloodhound, the initiative to break the land speed world record, has entered into administration with the appointment of Andrew Sheridan and Geoff Rowley, partners at specialist business advisory firm FRP Advisory LLP, as joint administrators on 15 October 2018.
Administration is the UK equivalent to Chapter 11 in the US. The aim is to help the company become solvent again, not to dissolve it entirely.
While some argue that the project may have ran too long compared to similar projects in the past, Bloodhound says its been a "major R&D catalyst and the focal point for a STEM education campaign which has reached over 2 million children since its launch, including 120,000 UK schoolchildren per year."
After eleven years, most have hoped to see the Bloodhound SSC at that 11 mile long, 0.93 mile wide race track at Hakskeen Pan in the deserts of the Northern Cape of South Africa. Now, a year past its first live test, the Bloodhound team is looking for a $33 million investment to continue.
Andrew Sheridan, joint administrator, commented:
Whilst not an insignificant amount, the £25m Bloodhound requires to break the land speed record is a fraction of the cost of, for example, finishing last in a F1 season or running an Americas Cup team. This is an opportunity for the right investor to leave a lasting legacy. We are already in discussion with a number of potential investors and would encourage any other interested party to contact us without delay.
Mark Chapman, Chief Engineer of Project Bloodhound is also optimistic, saying they can still get there within a year, once their funding got fixed:
As we now move out of the R&D phase and into the operational phase of the project, we recognize that we need a different approach to funding. This project is built around the most successful team in the history of Land Speed Racing, and with the right support we have no doubt that the project will achieve its aims and could be racing for the record in as little as ten months.
If you would like to see Andy Green break the 1000mph barrier on land, and have $33 million to throw at this enormous engineering challenge, please call the FRP Advisory LLP Bristol office on 0117 203 3700.
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