In 2000, with Schroders looking to exit, the firm was bought through a £13.5M management buyout, enabled through selling the original Lister factory site to the South West Regional Development Agency. By this time, the core engine products were in demise, and the company employed around 250 people on a turnover of £35M. Cost-cutting measures included closing the award-winning foundry in 2001: it had been one of the most advanced in Europe when it opened in 1937. In 2003, the company fell into its first administration.