Midlands manufacturer which supplied JLR and Ford in administration putting 43 out of work
Nearly two centuries of Black Country engineering history have been brought to an end after Smethwick Drop Forge collapsed into administration and was closed with the loss of all 43 jobs.
The Stourport Road company, which could trace its roots back to a fire-irons maker in Dudley in 1926, had been struggling in recent years with declining sales, and made a £300,000 loss in 2015.
It made highly engineered connecting rods for major truck and automotive companies, as well as supplying customers such as Jaguar Land Rover, Perkins Engines, Fiat and Ford, forging, stamping and pressing aluminium, carbon steels and stainless steel.
Chris Pole and Mark Orton from KPMG Restructuring were appointed joint administrators to Smethwick Drop Forge on Tuesday this week, and immediately closed the business and made the staff redundant
KPMG said it was appointed after "a prolonged period of declining sales, and in the absence of a buyer, following efforts by management to sell the business and a further accelerated marketing process
Chris Pole, a partner at KPMG, said: "Like many suppliers in the manufacturing industry, Smethwick Drop Forge has been affected by difficult trading conditions which has ultimately resulted in the directors taking the difficult decision to close its operations and place the business into administration.
"Over the coming days, our main focus is on supporting employees with their redundancy claims and seeking a buyer for the business' assets while we work to effect an orderly closure of the business.
"We would encourage anybody who may be interested to contact the joint administrators as soon as possible."
