Hundreds lose jobs as major UK glass firm plunges into administration

Hundreds of manufacturing jobs are being lost after a glass firm announced it is going into administration .

Clayton Glass, founded in County Durham in 1956, said hundreds of employees will be made redundant in the move which will see three manufacturing sites closed.

The company, which processes around 25,000 tonnes of glass every year employed 573 staff from seven sites across the UK before going into administration earlier this month.

Administrators James Lumb and Howard Smith from Interpath were appointed on September 18. The business and certain assets were subsequently sold to an entity led by the former management team in a transaction that secured 283 jobs and four sites in Nottingham, Swindon, Canterbury and Dewsbury, Lancs Live reports .

The remaining sites in County Durham, North Lanarkshire and Blackburn will be closed which has resulted in the redundancy of the remaining 290 staff.

The administrators said in a statement published online that "high energy and raw material costs and an extended period of low demand [had] hindered [the firm's] ability to maintain margins".

James Lumb, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator of Clayton Glass said: “Clayton Glass has a proud history, having established itself at the heart of the British glass industry, and this transaction gives the business a platform to continue, secures some of its operations and, crucially, preserves a significant number of jobs.

"Unfortunately, we are seeing a similarly story across a range of businesses supplying the housing market. The economics of the industry are incredibly challenging with high and rising fixed costs and soft demand which makes good businesses like Clayton unsustainable on a normal operating base.

"The directors have fought hard to find a solvent solution, but regrettably not all of the business could be rescued in this market. We have a dedicated team on site supporting impacted staff through this difficult time with making representations to the Redundancy Payments Service.”