Administrators at East Lancashire Paper Mill have made around 180 members of its remaining staff redundant and are now winding the mill down to closure, after failing to receive any reasonable bids for the business (PrintWeek, 26 January).


Its devastating news for the area and for our members, said Dave Hargreaves, Merseyside, Central Lancashire and North Wales GPMU branch officer.


Around 144 GPMU members were among those made redundant by the administrators.


I understand they had managed to get the mill back into profit, but sales had fallen off considerably, said Hargreaves.


A spokeswoman for administrator Arthur Andersen said production stopped at the 43-acre mill on 26 February, but a skeleton staff will remain until the mill closes.


Three written offers were received for the business, but they were by no means acceptable.


Although the level of debt has been reduced slightly, its losses were still unsustainable, said the spokeswoman.


The administrators made 40 staff redundant out of the 250 employees at the mill in January, soon after being appointed to the 139-year-old company.


The company, which was the subject of an MBO in 1990, was once the largest employer in the Radcliffe area of East Lancashire.


Story by Andy Scott