Job losses at window firm

Nov 10 2011 by Marjorie Kerr, West Lothian Courier

THIRTY-EIGHT West Lothian workers are set to lose their jobs following the news that window manufacturer AC Yule and Sons Ltd have gone into administration.

The company, who have a base at Brucefield Industrial Estate in Livingston, announced on Monday that they had appointed Blair Nimmo and Gary Fraser of KPMG as joint administrators.

AC Yule are a well-known and established glass processor, producer and installer of architectural aluminium products and PVC windows and were founded in 1946.

As well as their glass manufacturing plant in Livingston, the business have offices in Elgin and their headquarters are in Aberdeen.

Until recently, they also operated from sites at Forfar and Boldon near Newcastle.

At their peak in 2007, the company had 460 employees with turnover of £37 million.

But that had dropped to 272 staff by this year and 211 of those workers have now been made redundant following the appointment of administrators.

The remaining 61 staff have been kept on to help realise the company’s existing assets and to complete a number of orders.

The administrators say they are now seeking a buyer for the business and their assets.

Blair Nimmo, joint administrator and head of restructuring for KPMG in Scotland, said the recession had led to the company’s problems.

He said: “As a result of prolonged difficult economic conditions over the last three years, AC Yule and Sons Ltd sustained a reduction in their turnover together with considerable erosion in their margins.

“The directors proactively implemented a number of restructures both financial and operational, which involved significant additional share capital being injected.

“Unfortunately, despite these actions, losses continued to ensue which led to the directors concluding that they had no option other than to seek the appointment of administrators.”