© Supplied by Beam UK offshore wind and subsea technology firm Beam has left behind debts of more than £50 million following its collapse into administration.
At the time of Beam’s collapse in May, the company owed around £9.9m to various trade partners, including many in the offshore supply chain in Scotland and England.
Aberdeen firms left in the lurch include Kraken Robotics, Omni Subsea, Unique Group and Dales Marine, with each company owed tens of thousands of pounds.
Ellon-based Film-Ocean, Oban-based Jifmar Scotland and Oldmedrum-based Subsea Tooling Services are also owed significant sums.
In addition, Beam also owed more than £35.4m to investors through convertible loan notes (CLNs), alongside unpaid utility, pension, rent and tax bills.
But with Beam’s remaining assets unable to cover its debts to employees and tax authorities, administration firm RSM expects nothing will be left for unsecured creditors.
Meanwhile, the report also reveals Beam’s business assets and intellectual property have been sold to Switzerland-headquartered firm Rosenxt Group.
Beam: Rovco and Vaarst
Beam, created from a merger of Rovco and Vaarst, collapsed at the beginning of May with the loss of 162 jobs across offices in Bristol, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
Chief executive Brian Allen founded Rovco in 2015, before launching AI-focused sister company Vaarst in 2021.
The two companies went on to raise close to £50m from investors including Foresight Group, Equinor and American defence sector investor IQT.
© Supplied by RovcoThe Bristol-headquartered company specialised in subsea robotics and AI-driven solutions for offshore industries, with a focus on the expanding offshore wind sector.
Since rebranding as Beam last year, the company unveiled additions to its fleet of autonomous offshore vehicles as it tried to capitalise on ambitious offshore wind development plans in Scotland and the wider UK.
But the company collapsed after embarking on a rapid expansion plan as it aimed to hire more than 100 people in Scotland and expand to the US and Japan.
Timeline of Beam’s collapse
According to documents compiled by administrator RSM, Beam was “in its growth stage” having secured funds from equity investors and via CLNs.
But after an unsuccessful attempt to secure a revolving credit facility in late 2024, Beam approached RSM in December 2024 for financial advice.
Beam contracted RSM to monitor critical payments, negotiate with lenders and review its cashflow and financial position.
In January 2025, RSM agreed to provide debt advisory support to Beam and lead negotiations with potential lenders with the aim of addressing “the funding gap required to support the company’s growth phase and improve overall operational efficiency”.
This came as Beam prepared to launch its next investment round in the first half of 2025.
© Supplied by BeamThe process managed to secure an additional £5m of support from existing investors in February, but in late March the lead investor behind the financial lifeline pulled out.
As a result, Beam activated a contingency plan with the aim of enticing investors to buy the business and assets before April 30.
From a list of 106 potential investors, 53 parties signed non-disclosure agreements and were granted access to Beam’s financial records and other business information.
Three offers for the company were received, with only one related to buying Beam’s business and assets as a going concern.
On 15 April Beam accepted the purchase offer, but the interested buyer unexpectedly withdrew on 30 April after one of its main funders pulled out.
Beam racked up ‘significant unpaid debts’
According to RSM, Beam’s directors decided to place the company into administration the following day “due to escalating pressure and threats of winding-up petitions related to significant unpaid debts”.
After Beam entered administration, RSM contacted the 52 previously interested parties to explore potential sale options.
The administrator received seven final offers by 23 May, and RSM agreed a sale to Switzerland-headquartered Rosenxt on 13 June.
Rosenxt operates in the autonomous robotics, subsea, offshore and upstream energy sectors across Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, the US and Vietnam.
The company is a spinoff of Rosen Group, founded in Lingen, Germany in the mid-1970s. Swiss private equity investors Partners Group acquired Rosen in 2023.
Xplorer vessel sale to Rosenxt
Under the deal agreed with administrators, Rosenxt will pay £750,000 for Beam’s business and assets, including intellectual property.
The company will also pay a £250,000 deposit towards the purchase of the company’s Xplorer autonomous offshore service vessel.
Administrators said the sale of the Xplorer is subject to the completion of a sea trial with the balance payable by 20 July.
© Supplied by BeamThe full sale price of the vessel was not disclosed to “avoid prejudicing any future marketing that may be required” in the event Rosenxt walks away from the purchase.
If the sea trial is unsuccessful, RSM said the Xplorer will be “sold through alternative means”.
The documents also revealed a creditor which Beam owed more than £140,000 executed a warrant to arrest the Xplorer on 25 April.
After negotiating to pay the unspecified creditor 90% of the debt, RSM said the warrant was recalled on 9 June.
The companies owed money by Beam
At the time of its collapse, Beam owed around £13.6m to 266 entities.
Many of these firms operate across the offshore supply chain in the north east of Scotland.
Aberdeen firms include Kraken Robotics (£968,000), Subsea Tooling Services (£124,000), Omni Subsea (£102,000), Unique Group (£43,000) and Maris Subsea (£40,000).
Elsewhere in Scotland, Beam owed £334,000 to Advance Global Recruitment in Edinburgh, £230,000 to Jifmar Scotland in Oban and £155,000 to Film-Ocean in Ellon.
Across the UK, other firms owed significant sums include SMD in Tyne and Wear (£570,000), Diverse Marine in Portsmouth (£432,000) and XOCEAN in Banbury (£312,000).
In total, Beam owed debts to around 266 entities with firms ranging from the UK to Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Beam investors
Investors in Beam have also been left in the lurch, with backers unlikely to recoup around £35m put into the company through convertible loan notes.
Beam’s 121 shareholders included a range of early-stage venture capital firms, angel investors, private equity firms and individual investors, with no entity owning more than 18% of the shares.
The largest owners by shareholding are Legal & General (17.6%), Foresight Group (17.4%) and founder and director Brian Allen (11.9%).
Other major shareholders included Norway’s Equinor Ventures, the government-owned British Business Bank, and American private equity firms Future Planet Capital and IQT.
The Tawazun Strategic Development Fund, linked to the UAE Ministry of Defence, also held a significant stake in Beam.
