60 jobs saved as industrial services division is snapped up

A 25-year old Hull  industrial services business has been snapped up by a Liverpool firm for £1m, saving 60 jobs. 

Colt, which provides a range of industrial services to customers including major industrial companies, oil refineries, rail and utilities, such as specialist tank cleaning and high pressure jetting, has been sold to Future Industrial for £1m.   

The site was a division of listed waste management firm Augean, which announced a restructuring programme programme in May following the company’s announcement in March that it could not continue to invest in assets that did not generate suitable returns.

This morning’s announcement said that all 60 staff members working for Colt Industrial Services at the Hull site are to be transferred as part of the deal. The Hull site is to be retained under the terms of the sale and is now being leased to Future Industrial on a ten-year lease for £100,000 per annum.

The sales proceeds will be used to pay down existing debt facilities. Augean said there was now not expected to be an exceptional loss on closure/sale.  The loss attributable to the assets sold was £750,000 in 2017.

Wetherby-based firm Augean announced in May that it was consulting with staff to reduce costs through the potential closure of the Colt site, disposing of unwanted assets.

The consultation was to take 30 days and impact up to 60 staff. The potential income statement impact of closure was announced to be around £1.6m with net cash receipt expected of £1.3m for the sale of the property and assets. 

Augean said at the time that Colt had not provided the “positive improvement required”, having incurred a loss of £600,000 year to date.

Augean, which bought Colt in 2016 in a £14m deal, will continue to operate its Industrial Services business across the rest of the Group.

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