Injection moulding group Carclo (Wakefield, GB-West Yorkshire WF1 1ZF; www.carclo.co.uk) is closing operations at three of its sites following a decline in business from its UK customers. The factories being shut are the moulding plants in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, and Harthill, near Glasgow, plus the company´s toolmaking facility in Burgess Hill, Sussex. This marks the end of Carclo´s mould-making activities. A total of 140 jobs will be lost and an exceptional charge of GBP 3.5m incurred, most of which will be in the current financial year, ending 31 March 2004.

Carclo said it is “showing growth in profitability, led by demand in the US, Czech Republic and China, but demand for UK technical plastics has not maintained the recovery experienced in November and December of last year.” The continued decline in telectronics mouldings is the main cause of the company´s problems in the UK as the medical sector is understood to be profitable and automotive business relatively stable. Carclo said its underlying operating profit will be “modestly below expectations” for the second half of the year, although debt reduction remains on target. The restructuring is expected to make more resources available for new product and process developments.

Carclo´s main Scottish moulding plant is running at full capacity and is unaffected by the site closures. Moulds will continue to be bought in Europe, principally from Germany and Switzerland, and, increasingly, from Asia.