More than 50 staff have lost their jobs at Cleveland Bridge as administrators look to find a buyer for the ailing UK bridge contractor.
The redundancies are at the company’s steel fabrication plant in Darlington, northern England, according to reports by local media.
Consultancy FRP, which was appointed last month to handle the administration, said discussions continue with “interested parties”. A small group of around 25 core staff remain at work to help the administrators restart production as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, some staff have left voluntarily and Chris Droogan, the managing director, has officially left the company after six years in the job. Most of the jobs that have gone are office-based and not production related.
The local Northern Echo newspaper reported that potential new owners will already have back office capacity but will be keen to keep highly-skilled production staff. There are believed to be three or four possible bidders but this have not been confirmed, the newspaper said.
Cleveland Bridge was founded in 1877 and is a world-leading steel fabricator and constructor of bridges and complex structures. It offers a full turnkey service from design to installation, including bridge refurbishment and rehabilitation. As part of the Al Rushaid Group, Cleveland Bridge produces high-quality structural steel components at advanced manufacturing centres in the UK, Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
The company has erected some of world’s most iconic bridges, including the Victoria Falls Bridge in Zimbabwe and the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia. In 2019, Cleveland Bridge undertook pre-planned phases of finishing work on Scotland’s majestic Queensferry Crossing, built alongside the existing Forth Road Bridge.
