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A County Durham maker of plastic injection moulds and molded tools has collapsed into administration with the loss of 23 jobs.

Administrators handling Newton Aycliffe-based Mold Systems (Europe) Ltd say there has been interest in the company's brand and assets from potential buyers. The business was incorporated in the summer of 2019 after its predecessor Mold Systems Limited - based at the same Aycliffe Industrial Park address - also fell into administration around the same time.

Mold Systems (Europe) described itself as a technical toolmaker supplying a variety of markets include the medical, pharmaceutical, laboratory, caps and closures, packaging and automotive. From its 50,000 sqft premises it offered computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing, as well as in-house design through to mould polishing, assembly and in-house validation.

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Little detail has been revealed about the current administration. However, partial accounts for the firm to the end of October 2021 show it had creditor amounts of more than £570,000 due within a year.

Documents from predecessor company Mold Systems Limited's administration show the firm had restructured in 2018, shedding some of its workforce from 60 people down to 46 in order to return to profit. The report details how a number of significant orders amounting to about £900,000 were put on hold by customers in spring of 2019 which caused cashflow problems and meant the firm was unable to pay creditors - and resulting in a winding up petition from HMRC in August of that year.

The company was later sold via a pre-pack administration in a deal worth £558,403. Some of the company's assets were sold to Mold Systems (Europe) Ltd - the firm that has now also collapsed.

A statement from administrators at Carlisle-based accountancy and business advice firm Armstrong Watson read: "Mold Systems (Europe) Limited was placed into administration on November 28, 2022. Mike Kienlen and Daryl Warwick of Armstrong Watson LLP were appointed joint administrators.