Steel Crisis: 452 Caparo Staff Lose Jobs
The first job losses at Caparo Industries are announced since it went into administration earlier this month.
15:57, UK,Friday 30 October 2015
The steel crisis has claimed more victims as administrators for Caparo Industries Group announce 452 redundancies.
The bulk of the cuts were made in the West Midlands, PwC said, adding that the affected staff would be paid until close of business on Friday.
PwC gave a breakdown on the locations: Darlaston (122), (Hartlepool (79), Oldbury (68), Dudley (64) West Bromwich (59), Tredegar (17), Wrexham (12) and Cradley Heath (10).
It added that 21 other positions had been lost elsewhere.
Caparo called in administrators on 19 October - contributing to the mood of doom in the industry following the end of 170-years of steelmaking on Teesside when SSI collapsed.
Tata Steel - the country's largest steel producer - confirmed a day later that it was planning to reduce its workforce further.
The decisions meant just over 5,000 industry-wide jobs had either been lost or placed under threat in a matter of weeks.
The finger of blame has been cast wide - with the Government accused of robbing the industry of its competitiveness through a combination of high taxes and a lack of action against the 'dumping' of cheap Chinese steel.
It has since announced that subject to state aid approval from the EU, firms will net refunds on so-called green levies which have pushed up their energy costs.
A steel summit to be held in Brussels is also to address China's role in the industry.
Matt Hammond, PwC partner and lead administrator said of today's decisions, said: "The commercial prospects of the affected businesses render them unviable.
"We thank those former members of staff for their service ... We will work closely with them, their representatives and agencies to ensure that their redundancy and other claims are handled efficiently at this difficult time."
PwC said it left a further 1,200 jobs threatened within Caparo Industries Group.
Joe Morgan, GMB Birmingham & West Midlands regional secretary, said: "It is greatly disappointing that the receivers have felt the need to let people go.
"We understand the reason for this is that the employees on the loss-making parts of the business are no longer needed.
"We are still of the opinion that Caparo can be saved."
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