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    16 June, 2007

    Crosslink, Maerdy

    Things are looking pretty bleak for Crosslink in Maerdy unfortunately. The factory has been through several incarnations over the years - first as Fenners, the name by which it is still largely known locally, and then as United Polymers. In 2004, the Assembly invested about £500,000 in the factory, but it then went into administration. It was bought out of administration in 2005 by the new management team which changed the name to Crosslink and also brought in some new lines of business. They have also benefitted from additional Assembly investment since then. But after serious cash difficulties the factory went back into administration on Monday.

    I have kept in close contact with the company and the GMB union all week, and I visited the factory on Friday to meet the administrator with the GMB. There was some hope that one of the main customers might buy the company's assets and business. We had agreement from the local authority in respect of rate relief, and the Assembly would have been able to invest in the new venture. However, this fell through when the landlord demanded payment of back rent, which the potential buyer wasn't prepared to make.

    There were 140 staff at the beginning of the week, but they are now down to about 70.

    We need to ensure investment in the regeneration of Maerdy. The Upper Rhondda Fach suffered a significant blow two years ago when Chubb pulled out and moved its production to China. This is another awful blow. Maerdy is one of the Rhondda wards included in the Heads of the Valleys scheme, and I have already had discussions with the Economic development minister Dr Brian Gibbons and will be pursuing this.

    1 comment:

    Anonymous said...

    This is terrible news for local employment, I hope you can help in some way. China has certainly been bad news for many of our factories where we simply cannot compete with their cheap labour and overheads.

    I'm working on a PR project at the moment on MPs blogging and two-way communication. I wondered if I could please send you an electronic survey to complete, your support would be much appreciated. It won't be too long.

    Rhondda TV
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