200 St Helens jobs threatened by planned factory closure

A US-owned manufacturer of gas supply fittings is planning to close its St Helens factory with the loss of more than 200 jobs.

Crane Building Services & Utilities, part of New York Stock Exchange-listed Crane Co, supplies gas pipleine equipment and valves. It is understood to be planning to leave the site in Delta Road, Parr by March 2015.

In a statement the business, which has its main UK operation in Ipswich, said St Helens was an ageing site that required “significant investment”.

It said: “Consultation with the 216-strong workforce has commenced and the company proposals, which include redundancy, will be discussed over forthcoming weeks.

“Crane acquired the business at St Helens in 2008, which had previously been subject to a management buyout from Delta.

The St Helens site is an ageing facility with significant investment required to operate efficiently and to bring it up to world class manufacturing standards.”

It added: “The company owns other facilities in the UK which all have significant capacity for expansion and the company confirmed it would continue to invest into these facilities to sustain its world class manufacturing processes.”