Ktwo Sales has called in the administrators, having buckled under the financial strain of increased production costs and reduced demand.

The Buckinghamshire-based firm, best known for its Roadeo trailers and Duo muckspreaders, is still trading while its means of managing a growing debt pile are assessed.

Debt has spiralled since its acquisition of Warwick Trailers’ 52,000sq ft factory near Alresford, Hampshire, in 2019.

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Although the investment tripled Ktwo’s production capacity, it had to spend heavily to bring the site up to scratch with a new shot-blasting facility and spray booths, and that coincided with a downturn in demand.

“The political situation has given customers no confidence to invest in machinery, we’re battling against cheap imports, and the cost of building a premium product has risen significantly,” says sales manager Ashley Baldry.

“However, the doors aren’t fully locked, and discussions are ongoing with the administrators to find a way forward.

“The current priorities are to get customers’ machines out of the workshop and back to them, and to sell the remaining stock of 14t and 16t grain trailers, of which we have between 15 and 20.”

Anyone with a trailer on order will be contacted by their dealer in due course, the company says.

Spare parts are currently unavailable, although all the pto components and most of the gearboxes are sourced from Walterscheid, so replacements should be relatively easy to track down.

Warwick purchase fails to yield

Ktwo is by no means the first trailer maker to meet financial hardship, with the relatively simple design of the implements leaving manufacturers particularly vulnerable to fluctuating steel price.

Ktwo is reckoned to buy some 100t of standard, high-grade and Hardox metal from Tata every month.

Unfortunately, rising costs have collided with a short-term demand squeeze driven by changes in farming policies.

And that has been exacerbated by Ktwo’s acquisition of Warwick Trailers and the subsequent investment in its production facilities.

Despite that, it revealed a reinvigorated range of Warwick models just a few months ago, including small Eco muckspreaders, 4-12t tipping trailers, flatbeds from 18-28ft and drop-siders from 2-12t.

These were being sold alongside the full Ktwo offering, which includes Eco, Evo, Duo and Bio muckspreaders, and Flatbed, Low Loader, Contractor, Dumper, Compact and Push, and Curve trailers.