Sheffield based construction material manufacturer and supplier SIG has announced it is to shut six of its 12 factories and lay off another cluster of staff in the latest round of its unforgiving cost cutting initiative.
The insulation and roofing interior specialist, a FTSE 250 company, recorded a pre-tax loss of £9.2m in the first six months of 2009, down from £55.7m in the six months prior. It has made 980 employees redundant since the beginning of the year so far and will cut a further 300 with this latest announcement.
SIG’s restructuring programme began mid 2008 when the downturn first hit the since truly ravaged construction market. By the time it is finished, SIG expects to have spent £47 million on a reformation which will see it end with 2,500 less staff, 141 less commercial outlets and half its factories.
“We expect trading in the near term to remain difficult and management therefore continues to run the business tightly,” said the company in a statement.
SIG’s sales in UK and Ireland – 50 per cent of its total market – were down 21.5% to £667.1m in the first half of the year.
