A trio of big names in the industry have announced redundancies, blaming a decline in retail sales, competition from cheap imports and a slowdown in the housing market.
Top of the list is JELD-WEN UK, which has closed its Lowestoft stile and rail door factory, with the loss of 157 jobs. The company is likely to relocate its doorset operation to its Sheffield facility.
Managing director Mike Wolstenholme said, despite the “regrettable” job losses, the company was committed to UK manufacturing.
“The UK stile and door market has been in decline for some time amid pressure from the import market, and we were unable to remain competitive,” he said. The company is looking for voluntary redundancies to minimise compulsory redundancies.
Meanwhile, garden and timber landscaping products manufacturer Forest Garden plc is to undergo financial restructuring, with 12 non-manufacturing staff to be made redundant.
And at Richard Burbidge Ltd, staff have been informed of an “overheads reduction programme” with a call for voluntary redundancy and early retirement. Between 20-30 positions, mainly managerial and administrative, may be affected and compulsory redundancies have not been ruled out.
Forest Garden (Holdings) Ltd, parent company of Forest Garden plc, said the job cuts had come at a time when it expected to benefit from improvements made in the past two years, including a £9m investment programme.
Forest Garden chief executive Simon Ashton said 2005 sales were down about 10% on last year.
He said: “On a £60m turnover company, frankly that’s not helpful.”
While Richard Burbidge is still trading profitably, it is seeing sales below forecast and is not anticipating any major recovery in the next 12 months. Poor trading conditions in the DIY market and the slowdown in the housing market are blamed.
