PKF hoping to be Jensen saviour

The formal application for administration will be made before the High Court on 16 July. PKF partners Jon Newell and Philip Long have expressed their willingness to become Jensen's administrators and the mid-tier firm will be appointed administrator unless a conflict of interest is found.

Partner Jon Newell said the company, which was started three years ago, was supposed to build the first British sports car and had raised equity for the project. 'According to its business plan it was supposed to be building five cars a week, but it is only making two a week so it simply ran out of cash,' Newell said.

The cars - Jensen SV8s - are worth £42,000 and are extremely rare, as only around 25 have been made.

Newell said there had been 'a lot of misinformation' about Jensen's going into administration. He said The MacDonald Partnership, which was said to have pulled out of a deal with Jensen, had never made a formal offer for the car company because 'there were too many problems.'

Doug MacDonald, director of the MacDonald Partnership said: 'Jensen is a terrific company and the car is a first-class product.

'Regrettably we have come up against irresolvable issues and have consequently withdrawn from the deal. However, at some stage we might consider looking at the company again.'

Newell added that TMP, another company said to be interested in the business, had 'withdrawn from a deal with Jensen Motors after coming up against unexpected problems.'