Darlington company went into administration last month
Administrators for Cleveland Bridge have said limited production will restart at its Darlington factory this week once terms have been agreed with customers and insurance has been sorted out.
FRP Advisory held a meeting about the stricken steelwork business on Friday which was attended by local MPs, Paul Howell and Peter Gibson, Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen, Darlington council leader Heather Scott as well as employee and union representatives.
It was told that, subject to the formal agreement of terms with customers and finalisation of insurance arrangements, production is expected to restart at some point this week.
Those staff needed to come into the Yarm Road site will be contacted later this week with the remainder to continue on furlough under the government’s Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme.
Cleveland Bridge, which went into administration last month, employs 220 people at the site.
FRP partner and joint administrator Martyn Pullin said: “We are looking to restart production and continue to hold discussions with interested parties over the future of the business. We are working quickly and diligently to assess the viability of those approaches and will need to determine how they align with our objectives and duties as Joint Administrators.”
FRP has previously said the business, which was founded in 1877, has attracted interest from several parties but warned a deal to save the firm needed to be struck quickly.
GMB regional organiser Mark Wilson admitted: “Time is a luxury we haven’t got for Cleveland Bridge.”
The company, which has been majority owned by Saudi Arabian Al Rushaid Group since 2002, reported a £457,000 pre-tax loss in its last set of accounts for the year to December 2019 on turnover up 30% to £48m.
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