80 jobs under threat at West Midlands manufacturer
AROUND 80 jobs are under threat at a West Midlands manufacturer following its lapse into administration.
West Bromwich-based Colson Castors and Castors International imports and manufactures castors for the retail, medical and industrial sectors.
Colson had a turnover of c £12m for the year ended December 31, 2015 but despite a number of operational improvement initiatives, the business has continued to be loss-making for a number of years with significant funding being provided by global parent, the Colson Group.
Following a review of on-going trading performance, the Colson Group is no longer in a position to continue to fund these losses on an on-going basis. Without access to funding the directors of the companies had no alternative other than to place the businesses into administration.
Eddie Williams, David Dunckley and Jason Bell, all of Grant Thornton UK, have been appointed joint administrators of the business, which employs 85 – 80 of which are based at the main manufacturing site in Bagnall Street, Hill Top with the rest in Christchurch on the south coast.
Eddie Williams said: “The business and brand is well known within its market, providing high quality products to customers in the UK and worldwide. We will be urgently contacting potential interested parties, key customers and suppliers over the coming days whilst reviewing the position and assessing the options for the business.
“We are not announcing any redundancies at this time but we will need to keep this under review based on levels of support and any interest in the business.”
The Colson Group is the largest manufacturer of light-duty to heavy-duty castors in the world.
Colson Castors was founded in 1982 in Halesowen and designs a range of high specification medical and wheelchair castors. After the acquisition of Castors International – that included British Castors and Global Castors – it relocated into the British Castors facility in West Bromwich.
British Castors was established in 1927 in Birmingham when it was part of a foundry company that produced metal framed beds.
