Manchester-based Orka Technology Group  which offered a suite of products aimed at engaging and paying hourly workers has called in administrators, reports BusinessCloud. The platform, formerly known as Broadstone when it launched in 2016, has previously raised more than £30 million in investment. Orka claimed to be the market leader in providing tech solutions for shift workers but had been struggling for several months and have been unable to turn their fortunes around.

Orka had launched a series of tech solutions since it was founded in 2016 aimed at workers seeking a flexible work life. Orka Works was an the app where workers could find and apply for jobs, get background checks done and get paid. Orka Pay allowed workers access up to half of their earnings as soon as they worked a shift. Orka Check allowed employers to perform background checks on candidates whilst storing personal information and eliminating manual data entry.

Administrators Lisa Moxon and Chris Barrett, of Dow Schofield Watts Business Recover (DSW), have been appointed with the aim of saving 24 jobs. In 2022 Orka moved into the ABC Building on Manchester’s Quay Street as it continued to tap into the move towards shift working. However, as the economy slowed, so did Orka’s fortunes as it struggled to get traction from large customers and partners. Orka also found it a lot harder to raise new funds and the move towards administration looked inevitable.

Founder Tom Pickersgill told TheBusinessDesk.com that the decision to bring in DSW was “the right thing to do” and his main priority is to find new jobs for the 24 people employed in the business.

Pickersgill said, “It’s been a tough 12 months. Orka was a fantastic business with plenty of potential. But it’s hell out there at the moment trying to raise money for a tech business. We did everything we possibly could, we made some really tough calls, we made some redundancies last year, which was just devastating to do to a team that had built up and put so much effort into the business.”