The last 12 months have not been kind to engineering companies in the North. First Powerscreen fell foul of a massive accounting glitch in one of its subsidiaries, Matbro. More recently FG Wilson announced the loss of 400 jobs at its operations in Larne, Co Antrim. Arguably more dramatic has been the fall from grace of Mackie International.
It is barely four and a half years since the company came to the market on the back of the euphoria surrounding the first IRA ceasefire in the North. Fourteen months later, the one of the North's oldest companies hosted US President Bill Clinton at its plant in Belfast which straddles the peace line between nationalist Falls Road and loyalist Shankill Road enclaves during his historic visit to Northern Ireland. Optimism was the order of the day and companies like Mackie were banking on the peace dividend paying substantial returns for the long-suffering industrial sector in the North. Indeed, in introducing the US President, the company announced plans for the new foundry which would expand employment by 200.
That all seems a long time ago as successive profit warnings and a damning restatement of accounts plunged the group into crisis. This week, the company banker's patience ran out after a bid for a British company, which would have provided vital contracts for Mackie's recently built foundry, fell through. Receivers have been brought in and the outlook for the 150-year-old group is as bleak as it has ever been.
The mood was best described by Mr Sahota who said: "This place never had a problem with its workforce; it had a management and a strategy problem and I think we managed to resolve both. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and money . . ."
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