Wileyfox, the British smartphone maker that went into administration last month, has until the end of the month to find a rescuer before it faces liquidation.

The company started selling budget handsets in 2015 via retailers such as Carphone Warehouse, but has ­struggled to compete against more established names and a rise in ­component costs amid the pound’s weakness last year.

In February it brought in ­restructuring firm Quantum as ­administrators after it was unable to keep up with £11m of debts following the collapse of Russian bank ­Promsvyazbank and was unable to pay its distributor. Promsvyazbank was bailed out by Russia’s central bank last year but has stopped lending to overseas ­businesses.

Wileyfox, which sold phones for ­under £200 and is one of only a handful of British smartphone companies, hoped to find success by running a ­custom version of the ­Android ­operating system made by the American developer ­Cyanogen, which shut down in 2016.

It continues with a skeleton staff of around six people and is hoping to ­relaunch operations once it finds new investment. But Quantum’s Andrew Andronikou, one of the joint ­administrators, said if it did not find a rescuer within the next month the company is likely to be wound up.