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# hyperTunnel
- URL: https://entrepreneurplus.co.uk/graveyard/hypertunnel/
- Published: 2026-10-21T11:10:20.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-21T11:29:59.000Z
- Description: Robot-built tunnelling tech, Basingstoke; administration Jul 2024 when a £12M loan fell due
- Author: Editorial Desk
- Tags: #ep-grave

✝ Startup · Administration · 23 July 2024 

Robot-built tunnelling tech, Basingstoke; administration Jul 2024 when a £12M loan fell due

Companies House

[11594694](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11594694?ref=entrepreneurplus.co.uk) · Liquidation

How it ended

Administration

Ended

23 July 2024

Founded

2018

Sector

Deeptech

Based in

Elsewhere in the UK

Funding raised

Undisclosed

Backed by

Vinci

Last known website

[hypertunnel.co.uk](https://www.hypertunnel.co.uk/?ref=entrepreneurplus.co.uk)

Last checked

21 October 2026

## What happened

hyperTunnel Ltd, founded in Basingstoke in 2018 by Steve Jordan and Jeremy Hammond, developed a method of constructing tunnels without people underground: swarms of small robots travelled through horizontal directional drilling bore pipes and 3D-printed a tunnel shell in the ground before the spoil was excavated. It won a research contract with Network Rail after appointing former Network Rail chief executive Mark Carne as chairman, took investment from French contractor Vinci in 2022, unveiled the 'Peak XV' robot-built demonstration tunnel in October 2022 and signed a deployment agreement with AmcoGiffen in 2023\. Accounts to April 2023 showed £9.6M of debt and 40 staff. A £12M loan plus nearly £2.8M of interest owed to Thai investor Hamersley fell due at the end of July 2024, and attempts by Gordon Brothers to find investment, a sale or a restructuring failed. Paul Davis and Timothy Dolder of Opus Restructuring were appointed joint administrators of hyperTunnel Ltd and its parent on 23 July 2024.

## Why

- Cost of capital / unit economics
- Could not raise the next round

## What happened to the assets, customers and team

The business stopped trading on the administrators' appointment and 37 staff were warned of redundancy while a buyer was sought; no going-concern sale has been reported. The company moved from administration to creditors' voluntary liquidation on 22 July 2025 and the liquidation was still open at the September 2026 receipts-and-payments filing.

## In their words

> The companies were unable to pay their debts and the directors had to take action to protect creditors.
> 
> Paul Davis, joint administrator, Opus Restructuring · [source](https://tunnellingjournal.com/administrator-seeks-buyer-for-hypertunnel/?ref=entrepreneurplus.co.uk)

> As administrators we are seeking a buyer for the business.
> 
> Paul Davis, joint administrator, Opus Restructuring · [source](https://tunnellingjournal.com/administrator-seeks-buyer-for-hypertunnel/?ref=entrepreneurplus.co.uk)

## Lessons

Financing a long-horizon construction technology mainly with a single large loan left the company with a hard maturity date it could not meet, and the overhanging debt made it unattractive to new equity investors once the repayment loomed. Pre-revenue deep tech with no commercial projects in flight had little to offer a buyer under time pressure.

## Sources

1. [find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11594694?ref=entrepreneurplus.co.uk)
2. [find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/11594694/filing-history?ref=entrepreneurplus.co.uk)
3. [thegazette.co.uk](https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4705435?ref=entrepreneurplus.co.uk)
4. [theconstructionindex.co.uk](https://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/hypertunnel-runs-out-of-road?ref=entrepreneurplus.co.uk)
5. [tunnellingjournal.com](https://tunnellingjournal.com/administrator-seeks-buyer-for-hypertunnel/?ref=entrepreneurplus.co.uk)
6. [constructionenquirer.com](https://www.constructionenquirer.com/2024/07/25/robot-tunnel-builder-goes-into-administration/?ref=entrepreneurplus.co.uk)
7. [theconstructionindex.co.uk](https://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/basingstoke-start-up-proposes-tunnel-spraying-bots?ref=entrepreneurplus.co.uk)

✓ Verified by EP+ Every Graveyard entry is checked against Companies House and the sources above, and re-checked periodically. Spotted an error or a company that has been rescued? [Tell us](mailto:info@entrepreneurplus.co.uk?subject=Graveyard%20correction%3A%20hyperTunnel).

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