Velux has confirmed it will close the Meldorfer Holzverarbeitungs GmbH (MHG) factory in Germany but no full-time employees will be made redundant until the end of 2009.
The roof window market leader also announced the official opening of a new factory near Partizanske in Slovakia.
Final negotiations were approved by Meldorfer employees on March 30.
“The European market is experiencing an unfortunate fall in demand for products made at MHG,” said Meldorfer director Bernd Kühl. “We are experiencing a fall in demand on key markets and this has a negative impact on our sales and business. We have to react to these changes in market conditions.”
The new Slovenian factory – Partizanske Building Components (PBC-SK) is specialised in production of Velux roof windows and flat roof products, and represents the first major foreign investment in the Partizanske region.
Slovakia was chosen to support the market growth that Velux expects to see in the central and eastern European regions in the coming years.
During 2009 PBC-SK is planning to employ around 100 people.
