All jobs lost at Scottish site as glass manufacturing firm goes bust

All jobs have been lost at a North Lanarkshire site of a UK-wide glass manufacturing company after it plunged into administration.

290 jobs have been lost at Clayton Glass, described as one of the UK’s leading glass manufacturers, after administrators were appointed on September 18.

The firm, founded in 1965, employed 573 staff across seven sites in the UK, including one in Bellshill, where 60 jobs have been lost.

Sites in County Durham and Blackburn have also been closed, with 230 jobs across those bases also lost.

James Lumb and Howard Smith from Interpath, appointed as joint administrators, confirmed that the business and certain assets were sold to an entity led by the former management team.

The transaction included Clayton Glass’ sites in Nottingham, Swindon, Canterbury and Dewsbury, as well as the transfer of 283 staff.

In recent months, the business has faced “significant challenges” as a result of high energy and raw material costs and an extended period of low demand that has hindered its ability to maintain margins.

James Lumb, managing director at Interpath, said: “Clayton Glass has a proud history, having established itself at the heart of the British glass industry, and this transaction gives the business a platform to continue, secures some of its operations and, crucially, preserves a significant number of jobs.”

He added: “Unfortunately, we are seeing a similar story across a range of businesses supplying the housing market. The economics of the industry are incredibly challenging with high and rising fixed costs and soft demand, which makes good businesses like Clayton unsustainable on a normal operating base.

“The directors have fought hard to find a solvent solution, but regrettably, not all of the business could be rescued in this market.

“We have a dedicated team on site supporting impacted staff through this difficult time, making representations to the Redundancy Payments Service.”