Ulster Carpets to axe 35 jobs in North

ULSTER CARPETS, one of the North’s last remaining textile companies, is to axe 35 jobs in Portadown.

The company blamed the job losses on a fall in orders due to the global economic downturn.

Managing director Nick Coburn said the firm made the decision with “great regret. . . The reality is that the global financial turmoil has taken a heavy toll on consumers and businesses, leading to a need to cut production levels for the foreseeable future”.

Ulster Carpets said it had begun statutory consultations with unions and was in talks with its employees about the move. The company hopes to be able to avoid any compulsory redundancies.

In existence for 70 years, Ulster Carpets at one time employed more than 1,500 people in factories in Northern Ireland, South Africa and Australia. Over the last five years the firm has sold its plants outside the North to concentrate on its plant in Portadown, where it employs more than 400 full-time staff.

Earlier this year Ulster Carpets announced a £15 million (€18 million) investment in new technology for the plant. The firm intends to relocate all operations to a single location in Portadown.