Turnaround plan sees 46 jobs axed at foundry group

Although the Walsall operation – Chamberlin & Hill – has proved more resilient, the group's foundries at Scunthorpe and Leicester were badly hit as foundry revenues fell 14 per cent to £29.1 million.

Moves to cut costs and create a single foundry division have resulted in 46 jobs losses, with the workforce across the three sites reduced to 283, the company said today.

The group's moves to stem losses and cut costs have seen underlying losses of £1.3 million last year cut to £800,00.

At the same time revenues across the group were down 8.6 per cent in the 12 months to the end of March, to £38.6 million.

Chamberlin said it had seen 'significant improvement' in the second half of the year reflecting the impact of the turnaround plan from the new management team, headed by chief executive Kevin Nolan and finance director David Roberts.

It is now predicting a return to profitability in 2015. The group's chairman, Keith Butler-Wheelhouse, said today: "I am pleased to report a significant improvement in Chamberlin's performance which has led to a reduction in the level of losses in the second half.

"The improvement principally reflects actions taken by the new management team to stem losses and address the reduction in revenues within the foundry operations. While foundry revenues are down by 14 per cent year-on-year, they stabilised in the second half and were only three per cent down on the first half.

"We start the new financial year in a significantly better position than the last and while there are still challenges, we look forward to the group returning to sustained profitable growth ahead of our original plans."

The Chamberlin & Hill foundry in Walsall makes complex small castings used in vehicle turbochargers – seen as a growing market. as legislation pushes further cuts in CO2 emissions from cars and trucks as well as promoting the introduction of smaller, turbocharged petrol engines.

Despite the moves to cut costs, Chamberlin invested in a new chemical cleaning plant at the Walsall site last year.

This will clear blockages from the small castings before they are sent out, speeding up the production process and improving quality.

Chief executive Kevin Nolan added: "The significant improvement in the underlying loss position of the Group in the second half of the year is very encouraging and we believe that Chamberlin should return to profitability during the new financial year."

He added that Chamberlin also expected to see 'continuing good progress' in its two engineering operations, emergency exit firm Exidor at Cannock and Petrel, Birmingham.