Job losses as joinery businesses cease trading

Two joinery businesses operating from the same site in Sheffield have ceased trading, with the loss of 32 jobs in total.

Steven Wiseglass, a director at Inquesta Corporate Recovery & Insolvency, has been appointed liquidator of Birley Joinery Ltd and Dernie & Bell Sons & Co Ltd.

The businesses had cone under pressure due to loss of contracts and the pandemic, and as a result were no longer able to continue to trade.

Birley Joinery was formed in October 2019 following the purchase of the joinery division of Birley Manufacturing Ltd, which had gone into administration.

The business, which employed 18 staff, mainly manufactured tobacco kiosks in supermarkets and undertook projects in the hospitality sector, but orders were delayed and contracts lost during the pandemic.

Dernie & Bell Sons & Co Ltd, which was founded in 1953, manufactured staircases for house builders.

The business traded well until early 2021 when several factors combined to put its viability under pressure.

Initially based in Worksop in Nottinghamshire, a move to Sheffield led to a number of staff not wishing to relocate, and a split-site operation for a period caused it to fall behind with orders.

A fire at its Worksop premises caused more delays and disruption, and a huge rise in the cost of timber compounded its financial difficulties.

All 14 staff were made redundant at the end of September.

Wiseglass said: “Due to a combination of issues, and despite efforts to secure the future of the companies, sadly neither has been able to continue trading and as a result they have been placed in liquidation.

“As liquidator I will now be seeking to secure a sale of their assets to return monies to creditors.”