Cleveland Bridge: Troubled steel firm to cut 53 jobs

Cleveland Bridge entered administration in July

Troubled steel firm Cleveland Bridge is making 53 workers redundant, the firm's administrator has confirmed.

The Darlington-based company, which was founded in 1887 and has built major engineering projects around the world, entered administration in July.

Administrator FRP said 53 mostly office jobs had been made redundant while 25 core staff remained at work and 153 on furlough as a buyer was sought.

Teesside politicians said the job losses were "devastating".

FRP said the roles were being made redundant for "operational and financial" reasons.

The firm said it was "continuing to hold discussions with interested parties having marketed the business for sale".

'Optimistic'

Martyn Pullin of FRP said: "We remain focused on restarting production to support clients with live project work while pushing forward ongoing talks with interested parties.

"Regrettably, a number of roles have been made redundant as we restructure the business. Our team is on site to support impacted staff through this difficult period and assist in making claims through the redundancy payments service."

Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen and Sedgefield and Darlington MPs Paul Howell and Peter Gibson said it was "devastating news".

In a joint statement, the trio said: "Since the company fell into administration last month our number one priority has been to save as many jobs as possible while a buyer for the company is found, and this remains the case."

They said they were "optimistic" a buyer would be found as production was due to resume soon to complete existing orders.

Cleveland Bridge has helped build structures all over the world including Wembley Stadium's arch, London's Shard and Dubai International Airport.