116 redundancies as Bosal UK closes

After three months of failing to find a buyer, Bosal UK has ceased production at its Walton Summit site, at a cost of 116 jobs.

The exhaust manufacturer went into administration in January, citing longer-lasting products which require replacing less often, competitors using cheaper overseas manufacturing and legal action taken by 48 of its staff as the reasons behind its troubled finances.

The firm was £20m in debt and couldn't find a buyer as it didn't own any of the design or intellectual property rights to the products it produced.

Administrator Duff & Phelps said: "A suitable purchaser could not be found for the company’s manufacturing division and as a consequence all production has ceased, resulting in 116 redundancies.

"Following a lengthy marketing period it became apparent that no purchaser was in a position to submit a deliverable bid for the business as a whole, or specifically for the company’s manufacturing facilities.” The Dutch-owned Bosal Group later announced that it will be establishing a new  sales and marketing company, Bosal Automotive and Industrial Components Ltd (BAIC), based near Preston, to look after the needs of current and future customers for Bosal products and services.