Around a quarter go at collapsed steelwork firm

Administrators at stricken steelwork contractor Cleveland Bridge have axed around one quarter of staff at the firm.

FRP Advisory said 53 roles at the Darlington-based business had gone “for operational and financial reasons”. It added the majority were office-based jobs.

It said around 25 staff members were on site helping administrators get some limited production back up and running – which FRP is hoping to do later this week.

cleveland bridge

Around 25 employees are working with administrators to get some production at the firm’s Darlington factory back up and running

The remaining 128 roles have been furloughed as part of the government’s Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme initiative pending, it said, the intended restart of production. A small handful of staff have also left voluntarily, FRP added.

FRP said it was in talks about the business with “interested parties” and partner Martyn Pullin added: “We remain focused on restarting production to support clients with live project work while pushing forward ongoing talks with interested parties.”

Cleveland Bridge, which was founded in 1877, collapsed into administration last month.

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.