Nigel Ruddock, Ipe Jacob and Ian Carr, partners at Grant Thornton, have been appointed joint administrators of the Oriel Investment Corporation ("ORIC"), including Warranty Holdings, at the request of its directors. ORIC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company.

The ORIC group of companies which trades as Warranty Holdings, includes Warranty Holdings Ltd, which specialises in sales and administration, and WHA Limited, the claims handling operation. Between them they offer, through dealers, insurance-related products and services, such as warranties and mechanical breakdown insurance, largely in support of used car sales. It is expected up to 100 Warranty Holdings employees out of an approximate total of 400 will be made redundant immediately. Redundant employees will be provided with payments in addition to statutory redundancy payments. They will also be given access to outplacement agency services.

ORIC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. The decision to place ORIC in administration was triggered by two principal factors: - Internal investigations revealed serious business irregularities, which have been referred to the police for further investigation. - Recent events compromised the ability of the business to operate profitably going forward Nigel Ruddock of Grant Thornton commented: "We intend to market parts of the company to potential purchasers over the next few days. We will also work closely with companies and dealer groups served by Warranty Holdings to facilitate a smooth transition to alternative insurance providers."