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Russian-owned Birmingham-based vanmaker LDV’s pleas for financial support have been turned down by the UK government.
Oleg Deripaska’s Gaz group, which owns LDV, requested up to £83m to rescue the struggling company, but Downing Street has said it is Deripaska’s responsibility to pull the group up.
The group is hoping to complete a management buyout.
Responding to the statement from BERR rejecting LDV’s request for support, Erik Eberhardson, leader of the management buyout, said: “We want to explore every avenue possible to save the company and the jobs.
“We are ready to sit down and talk with the government at any stage about what commitments each party is able to put in. We hope the government will accept our invitation to do so.”
Jaguar Land Rover ran into similar problems when it requested a bail-out in December, as it is owned by Indian carmaker Tata.
British union Unite has said the government should assist LDV, however, as the result of not doing so would be the loss of thousands of UK jobs.
LDV wants the loan to support its proposed management buyout, which would make LDV an independent producer of electric vans.