Brit Government Contractor CloudKubed Enters Administration

A self-described specialist supplier of "transformational data and AI solutions" to the UK government has called in the administrative receivers.

CloudKubed, based in Witney, Oxfordshire, appointed FRP Advisory on January 6, according to a filing at Companies House, the official register of corporations in Britain. We asked the administrator on January 13 to comment on the turn of events.

The Microsoft Solutions Partner for Azure, specializing in data and AI, was only founded in May 2021, yet during its relatively short existence secured some contracts with central government departments.

According to its website, the business offered "scalable digital strategies," "portfolio transformation," "program and project management," "cloud and data engineering," "enterprise architecture," and "business transformation alignment," among other things.

Data provided to The Register by public sector market intelligence biz Tussell shows that invoiced business won by CloudKubed (and its previous brand, CLOUDTENTEN) totaled £16.2 million ($19.2 million).

This included contracts with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Home Office, the UK Health Security Agency, and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. The final live contract, Landing Zone Accelerator Delivery Enablement Management Services with DWP, ended January 15.

• UK government tech procurement lacks understanding, says watchdog
• £3.8B later, old tech supplier flames still burning for HMRC
• Google snags ex-Microsoft exec to helm cloud in the UK
• Accenture wins £35M more UK tax work without competition despite promise to 'disaggregate'

"CloudKubed are experts in delivering large-scale cloud adoption and maturity programs that accelerate digital transformation in some of the largest and most complex organizations across healthcare, central government, research institutions, and beyond," the company's website states.

The business filed abbreviated accounts, indicating a turnover of less than £6.5 million ($7.9 million) a year or fewer than 50 employees.

Laura Bouchard, a former EMEIA partnerships and industries lead at Apple, and a director of central government at Microsoft UK, was named as a non-executive director in April last year. We have asked Bouchard to comment on the company's decision to call in administrators.

As for FRP Advisory, we asked what events led to the demise of CloudKubed, whether it retained staff, if there is any interest in the assets of the organization, and whether contractors were on the list of creditors.

One tech freelancer told us they had been unpaid for the last two months: "Would be nice to hear a statement/apology from them [CloudKubed] as so far they have been silent." ®