Anger as 54 jobs are lost

May 8 2008 By John Rowbotham

ONE of Britain’s leading brick manufacturers are closing their Lanarkshire operation with the loss of 54 jobs.

Ibstock blamed the slowdown in the construction sector for their decision.

The announcement sparked a political row, with an MSP blaming one of Lanarkshire’s councils for not doing enough to help Ibstock.

The company use clay trucked from Hamilton’s Carscallan Quarry to make bricks at the factory in Tannochside.

Wayne Sheppard, the company’s managing director, said that, with demand for bricks falling, they “needed to balance sales and production capacity whilst maintaining optimum efficiency”.

He added: “Consultation has commenced with employees regarding the potential redundancy situation affecting 54 staff in total.

“Ibstock’s dedicated Scottish sales team and sales office will be retained on a continuing basis along with a depot stocking an extensive range of Ibstock products manufactured at the company’s other 22 operating brick factories across the UK.”

Yesterday (Wednesday) Central Scotland SNP MSP Alex Neil said North Lanarkshire Council should “take a large part of the responsibility” for the closure of the Tannochside operation.

He said: “I met with representatives from the council’s legal and planning departments more than a year ago.

“It had become clear that Ibstock were being prevented from managing the site effectively due to planning restrictions.

“They were not asking for any money, just for the council to take their concerns on board.

“I told these representatives I had been advised that this was making Tannochside a less attractive place for Ibstock to base their operations. However, they did not listen to this warning and would not move an inch to address the planning concerns.”

Mr Neil said the announcement was, therefore “not much of a surprise” for those involved with the site.

The council now had a duty do everything to minimise the impact of these job losses, he added.

Ibstock declined to comment on Mr Neil’s remarks but they did thank him for his support in recent years.

Councillor James Coyle, convener of the council’s planning committee, said they would do all they could to help axed Ibstock staff find training or new jobs.

Responding to Mr Neil’s comments, councillor Coyle said: “Two years ago, we initiated enforcement action against one of Ibstock’s suppliers who were operating without planning permission. However, this action would not have affected the UK brick market.”

Ibstock came under fire earlier this year by villagers from Quarter. They complained that clay from lorries leaving Carscallan Quarry was making driving hazardous on Carscallan Road, an accident blackspot.

Ibstock introduced additional measures to tackle the problem but some villagers said the company needed to do more.