The closure of the Andover factory of pine furniture giant Ducal, has not only resulted in the loss of hundreds of jobs. It has also put hundreds of pieces of woodworking machinery on the market.

Parent company Silentnight said losses at Ducal had been “unsustainable” since it bought the company two-and-a-half years ago and blames the closure on the rise of cheap foreign imports.

The Ducal brand, 60 years old this year, now forms part of a new company Cornwell Parker Cabinets along with two other Silentnight subsidiaries, Stag and Nathan, but its furniture ranges will no longer be made in the UK.

&#8220We have put a phenomenal amount of effort into this business but the losses were unsustainable”

Silentnight group marketing co-ordinator Mark Preston

More than 1,000 lots of woodworking machinery, materials handling and factory equipment worth several millions of pounds will be auctioned off at the Andover site on July 29, including saws, moulders, sanders, drills, finishing equipment, dust extraction systems, forklifts and vans.

A spokesperson for Scunthorpe-based CJM Asset Management, which is handling the sale, said: “This will be one of the most important sales of woodworking and manufacturing equipment that has been held in the UK this year.”

Ducal previously made furniture using imported Finnish and Swedish pine but now its ranges will be made in countries such as Poland, Portugal and South Africa and imported. Oak and alder will be used in some new ranges.

&#8220This will be one of the most important sales of woodworking and manufacturing equipment that has been held in the UK this year”

CJM Asset Management spokesperson

Silentnight group marketing co-ordinator Mark Preston said: “We took the business over with the intention of turning it around. But conditions in that area of the market are particularly difficult.

“It is not a decision we have taken lightly. We have put a phenomenal amount of effort into this business but the losses were unsustainable.”

A skeleton staff is remaining at Andover for the near future, but in future sales, marketing and storage operations will be based at a new site in Enfield Lock, also shared by Nathan and Stag.