Workers lose jobs in Appleby (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Workers lose jobs in Appleby

5:46pm Thursday 18th December 2008 in

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DOZENS of workers in Appleby lost jobs today (Thursday) after a building and joinery firm went into administration.

The directors of G. Middleton Ltd made all 48 members of staff redundant at their factory in the town.

The company – which specialises in kitchens, bathrooms and conservatories – has been trading for more than 30 years with an annual turnover of £2.5m.

Administrators from accountancy firm, KPMG have been appointed to handle accounts and tie up outstanding orders.

Hudson Grey, associate director at G. Middleton Ltd said the situation was “simply down to the economic climate.”

“The last year has been extremely difficult,” he said. “We’ve been awarded a number of contracts totalling about £1.5million which we just haven’t been able to start and we’ve carried quite a large staff in the hope that we could but we just haven’t been able to.

Mr Grey said the directors are looking to restructure the business in the New Year.

“We didn’t plan this but it’s just come to a head and there was a clear realisation that we have got to get this sorted out,” he said. “We had too many men for the amount of work we had to go forward.

“It’s not been a pleasant thing to tell the lads, especially at Christmas time. I mean the company has a good reputation and we do very good work, it’s just a pity there isn’t more of it.”

Paul Flint, associate partner at KPMG Restructuring, in Manchester said it was not viable for the company to carry on trading.

“We have been speaking with various parties with regards to options for the business but at this stage, it’s not something we can continue to trade as administrators,” he said.

“We will do everything we can to assist those employees who have been made redundant through this difficult period. Furthermore, we are also trying to assist those customers who have outstanding orders with the firm.”