Klarius jobs saved as administrators agree a deal for Cheadle operation

THE jobs of 234 people at the Klarius automotive parts operation in Staffordshire have been saved after administrators agreed a deal to sell the business.

Klarius, Europe’s largest manufacturer of aftermarket car parts, entered administration yesterday. The firm makes 90,000 parts from five manufacturing plants – three in the UK, one in Spain and one in Germany – which together employ 1,200 people; 234 at its exhaust plant and European distribution centre at Cheadle.

Administrators Paul Flint and David Costley-Wood, from KPMG’s restructuring team in the North West, have now reached an agreement to sell the emissions business to Klarius Products Ltd, a new business set up by management. The deal is expected to complete later today.

In addition, the intellectual property rights relating to the Quinton Hazell Automotive Ltd business have been sold separately to Tetrosyl I-Tec Ltd, part of Tetrosyl Ltd.

Upon appointment to QHA, the administrators made 42 redundancies at its QH distribution division in Hinckley, which will cease to operate. Further redundancies are expected at other sites around the group.

Mr Flint said: “We are pleased to announce the sale of the Cheadle site – saving 234 jobs. Despite marketing the remaining divisions for sale, we were unable to find a buyer and have taken the difficult decision to wind them down.

“Prolonged challenging trading conditions in the automotive parts sector impacted Quinton Hazell’s performance. This created cashflow pressures and affected Quinton Hazell’s ability to trade as a going concern.”

KPMG is assisting affected staff to claim redundancy payments.

A team from Squire Sanders led by partner Susan Kelly provided legal advice to the administrators.