Manufacturing group Liberty to close West Bromwich factory

Liberty Group says it has decided to pull out of the markets served by its Drawn Tubes and Fairbright Wire businesses in Phoenix Street.

But the company says it will aim to find new roles for the 49 workers at either its own sites in the West Midlands or with other engineering companies nearby that it has close links with.

Liberty has around 17 sites in the West Midlands and employs around 1,000 people across the Black Country after it bought up a string of factories following the collapse of Caparo Industries in 2015.

Both Phoenix Street businesses face a long term decline in their markets and competition from bigger and cheaper rivals on the Continent. Liberty has decided there is no future for the company in either drawn tubes or manufactured steel bale wire.

The staff at Phoenix Street were warned in February that the company was reviewing operations at the site. The workforce was told on Thursday of the decision to close the factory over the next five months.

A spokesman said: "Due to changes outside of our control in the markets for the products made by our Drawn Tubes and Fairbright Wire businesses in Phoenix Street in West Bromwich, we have made a strategic business decision to withdraw from these markets and commence consultations to seek the redeployment of the 49 employees to other parts of the Liberty Group in the West Midlands or external partner businesses close by.

"In line with our established commitment to our employees we are hopeful that suitable alternative jobs will be found for most, if not all, of the affected staff.

"The Liberty Drawn Tube business will be gradually scaled down over the next five months, while the raw material at Fairbright Wire business will be converted to finished product and sold within a shorter period. The Phoenix Street site has been assessed for redevelopment, and any income generated will be re-invested in Liberty’s operations in the West Midlands."

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 collapse of that business three years ago.