150 jobs secured at PC Henderson

Jan 6 2009 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

THE jobs of around 150 workers at a door manufacturer have been saved after the company was bought by one of its competitors.

A deal to secure the future of PC Henderson, of Bowburn, Durham, was finalised on New Year’s Eve – less than two weeks after all staff in garage door division were put on notice of redundancy.

Managing director Vicky Brockley said in late December she was involved in talks to secure the future of the 90-year-old business.

And yesterday staff were told a deal had been struck to sell the business to Nick Fibley, a private investor who owns Henderson’s main rival Cardale, of Brackley, Northamptonshire.

Ms Brockley said: “Cardale has weaknesses and we have strengths and together we can be a much stronger business. We have been in talks around the clock to save the business and the deal was eventually agreed on new year’s eve.

“It’s too early to say exactly how things will work out, but we have invested very heavily in the Bowburn plant and have extremely cost-effective production facilities.

“There will be a review of operations across the group, this may lead to some small-scale redundancies, or conversely it could lead to an increase in jobs. But the most important thing right now is that the existing jobs have been saved and the name of Hender- son, which is the best name for garage doors in the business, will remain here in Durham.

“It’s great news for us all in Durham and at a time when there is a lot of doom and gloom in the economy it is a great way to start the new year.”

Cardale also has operations in Luton, Scunthorpe the New Forest. Mr Fibley will visit his new Durham operations today.

A Henderson sister plant at Bowburn, which makes sliding doors and employs 50 people, has been unaffected by the uncertainty in the garage doors division.

Total turnover for the two divisions was around £23m last year – with garage doors accounting for £14m of this – and Ms Brockley believes this will improve in 2009.

The company had made a loss in the last two years but expects to turn that around under the new regime.

Ms Brockley said the company had been hit by rising steel prices, the downturn in the construction industry and new planning regulations which have resulted in less homes being built with garages.

Henderson was established by Percy Cecil Henderson in Romford, Essex in 1921.

It moved to Durham 40 years ago. In 2000 it was taken over by Swedish firm Cardo and it now has new owners.