Hyde sheds staff as earnings slipped
TAMESIDE aero engineering firm Hyde Industrial Holdings shed 20% of its workforce last year as sales and earnings slipped.
Filed accounts for the year to September 30 show pre-tax profits fell 4% to £13.1m on sales of £116m, down 1.6%. In 2008 the group recorded a profit of £23.7m.
During the year the company employed 867 people, down 20% on 1,091 the previous year. This helped the business save £9.2m in wages and other benefits.
In the accompanying report the directors described the results as “acceptable in the light of the challenges presented through the customer base within the aerospace sector”.
Hyde Industrial Holdings was set up in 1968 and currently employs around 1,100 staff in three main trading divisions – tooling, engineering and aeroproducts. The tooling division is the largest of these and handles tooling and design of airplane parts.
During the period the business acquired the remaining 20% in the Kent-based precision engineering business Crest Engineering.
Hyde Industrial Holdings is majority owned by its co-founders, although private equity firm 3i also has a minority stake of less than 10%. The dividend payment was unchanged at £5.09m.
