120 jobs are saved as Cannock firm sold to rival
The jobs of 120 workers at two factories in the Black Country and Staffordshire have been saved after the firm which operates them was bought out of administration.
BI Composites makes moulded components from high-tech plastic for clients including JCB and Jaguar Land Rover. It has been bought for an undisclosed sum by competitor Leicester-based Linecross.
The jobs of 72 workers at BI's HQ at Green Lane in Bridgtown, Cannock, and 48 at Coombs Road, Halesowen, have had their jobs secured as a result.
Administrators from the national accountancy firm and corporate recovery specialists Chantrey Vellacott DFK were brought in to run the company, which was founded in 1969, after problems arose as a result of its £4million pension deficit.
It will now be renamed Linecross Composites in the wake of the sale.
Linecross, which specialises in producing products for the automotive industry, had a turnover of £15 million last year, which the company expects to grow to around £23 million following the purchase of the two new sites.
Managing director Stuart Fry said the business has grown steadily since a management buyout in 2003 and the acquisition of BI Composites fitted in well with the firm's long-term expansion plans.
"We are delighted to have completed the deal to buy BI Composites and with it to safeguard the future of a significant number of jobs," he said.
"Linecross and BI Composites are both innovative and creative companies which share very similar production processes and customer bases."
The administrators said there had been a lot of interest in the firm and they had sold it within three weeks.
