Jobs on the line as West Bromwich factory bosses consider closure
More than 50 workers face an uncertain future as bosses of a West Bromwich factory mull a possible closure for the 90-year old steel business.
A ‘long-term decline’ in the market for the type of steel tubes made at Liberty Drawn Products and Liberty Fairbright Wire are behind the move.
Staff at the two firms, both based at a site in Phoenix Street, were told this week that management at the Liberty House-owned company was “reviewing operations at the site”, with closure among the options.
No decision has yet been made but, if the factory is shut, management say they will try and safeguard jobs and skills by offering staff jobs at other sites within the group.
Caparo
Liberty Drawn Products can trace its roots back to 1928 and the founding of Phoenix Steel Tubes on the site.
It later became part of the Caparo Industries group and was dragged into the huge collapse of that business in 2015. But the factory, and others employing around 1,000 people in the Black Country, were rescued in a takeover by the Liberty House group.
This has since expanded into one of the UK’s biggest steel businesses, including the Liberty Performance Steels factory in Albion Road, West Bromwich, among around 17 sites across the West Midlands.
In a statement, a Liberty House spokesman said: “We recently informed our 53 West Bromwich staff at Liberty Drawn Products and Liberty Fairbright Wire that, due to a long-term decline in the market for the type of steel tubes and related products made by these businesses, we are in the process of reviewing operations at the site.
“While various options are being explored, no decision has yet been agreed. The potential changes do not affect any of our other locations. We are optimistic we will be able to safeguard jobs and skills by relocating current staff to some of our other Midlands operations.”
