SEVENTY-one employees at a tile manufacturing company in Markethill are at risk of losing their jobs after the firm went into administration.
Reflex Mouldings, which makes floor tiles for industrial and domestic flooring for the domestic and commercial markets, called in administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers on Monday.
Paul Rooney from PricewaterhouseCoopers said that he hoped the com
pany would continue trading. "Our immediate priority will be to evaluate the company's financial position and take a view on the status of the order book and on existing contracts,” he said.
Owned by brothers Paul and Peadar Hurson, Relfex Mouldings also manufactures vehicle number plates and car mats and is the latest company in Northern Ireland to experience finanical difficulties under the economic downturn.
However, a cross-party delegation of political representatives, including Danny Kennedy (UUP), Dominic Bradley (SDLP), Mickey Brady (Sinn Fein), and Newry and Armagh MLA William Irwin (DUP), met with the administrators on Wednesday to put their weight behind efforts to salvage the company.
Issuing a joint statement, they said, “It is clear that the administrators are seriously engaged in salvaging the company, protecting existing jobs, and ensuring the company remains viable.
“We have pledged our support for these efforts and will remain in constant contact with the administrators.”
meetings
The political representatives are planning to request meetings with the Minister for Enterprise Trade and Investment, Arlene Foster and the Minister for Employment and Learning, Sir Reg Empey.
They continued, “We would like to reassure the workforce that we are aware of the uncertainty this has created and that we are seeking to support them fully.”
Further meetings between political representatives and PricewaterhouseCoopers have been scheduled for next week.
