Job cuts loom at crisis-hit ironmongers
Uncertainty continues to surround the future for almost 140 workers at a firm with two Willenhall branches after it shed more than 400 jobs elsewhere in the country.
The Laidlaw Interiors Group went into administration just before the Christmas shutdown.
Around 130 workers at Laidlaw's ironmongery and balustrading businesses, based at Strawberry Lane in Willenhall, returned to work yesterday.
But the group has not reopened another of its firms, Leaderflud and Shapland, which has offices in Langley Mill, and Mansfield.
Administrators from Deloitte say they are continuing to try and find buyers for the two companies.
Laidlaw Interiors Group was formed in August in 2011.
Deloitte says that, as a result of a number of significant delays with several major contracts alongside other 'unhelpful' external trading conditions, the group had put itself up for sale in November.
Joint administrators Richard Hawes and Clare Boardman of Deloitte were called in on December 18 and almost immediately found buyers for four of the Laidlaw group businesses, saving 390 jobs from the group's workforce.
But nearly 400 at Leaderflush, who broke up for Christmas on December 23, were told they were being made redundant and not to return to work on Monday.
Richard Hawes, from Deloitte, said: "Despite the best efforts of the company, and ourselves, it was simply not possible to secure a buyer for this division.
"The group has been under financial pressure for some time, restructuring in 2014, and Leaderflush Shapland has suffered significant on-going losses making trading unsustainable."
All employees across the group received their December pay, says Deloitte.
Meanwhile the administrators continue to try and secure buyers for the remaining two divisions - Laidlaw Architectural Ironmongery, which employs around 126, and the 12-strong team at Balustrading Solutions, in Willenhall.
