Nikon sold motion-control firm MRMC enters liquidation, shutdown begins

A specialist workhorse behind cinematic camera moves and high-end product shots has gone into liquidation just months after Nikon sold it. Mark Roberts Motion Control, better known as MRMC, said on its website that liquidation began on May 22, 2026, and that Lee Manning and James Thompson of S&W Partners were appointed joint liquidators, putting them in control of the company’s affairs, business and assets.

The collapse lands hard because Nikon only announced on March 26, 2026, that it had entered a share purchase agreement to transfer MRMC to MRMC Bidco Limited, a vehicle established by Blandford Capital LLP. Nikon said it had owned 100% of MRMC since October 2016 and described the business as designing, developing, manufacturing, selling and renting robotic motion-control camera equipment. At the time of the sale, MRMC was still being presented as operational, with TVBEurope reporting that the company had appointed Nick Barthee as chief operating officer and was continuing normal operations without changes to day-to-day activities, leadership structure or customer commitments.

For photographers and crews who rely on motion control, the stakes are practical as much as financial. MRMC’s rigs have long been used for cinematic camera movement, along with sliders, rails and turntables for product photography and studio work. The company said it was celebrating 60 years in 2026, dating its founding to 1966, and said its technology had been trusted on more than 300 feature films. It also won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade in February 2018, a marker of how deeply embedded the brand had become in the professional imaging supply chain.

What makes the shutdown feel abrupt is how active MRMC still looked weeks ago. The company’s own news pages were still publishing posts in 2026 about practical effects, broadcast robotics and darts coverage, suggesting a business still trying to project momentum even as ownership and strategy shifted around it. That contrast has sharpened the concern inside photo and video production circles, where specialist hardware companies can disappear quickly once capital, demand and portfolio priorities move against them.

Nikon’s sale now reads like an early warning for a niche market built on expensive machinery, long support cycles and a small base of demanding users. When a company that helped shape robotic motion work for films, studios and still photographers can move from sale to liquidation so fast, the real loss is not only the brand. It is the fragile infrastructure that keeps high-end motion-control systems running once the boxes stop shipping.