120 jobs saved at textiles firm
Textile machinery company Cobble Blackburn has been rescued by an overseas buyer, saving 120 jobs.
The firm, which produces tufting machines used by carpet manufacturers around the globe, was bought in a pre-pack sale by Belgian group Van de Wiele.Cobble was established in the town in 1955, and although the company registered almost £14m in sales in 2011, cashflow struggles saw it make a loss of around £250,000 the same year. It also has operations in the USA and China, which were included in the deal.
The new company will trade as Cobble – Van de Wiele Limited. Former apprentice Jason Kent has been appointed managing director. The Van de Wiele group has a global turnover of more than $500m and employs more than 2,500 people in total.
