Kingspan timber frame factory to close

Kingspan Off-Site’s timber frame factory in Tredegar is to close with the loss of 59 jobs.

The company said the move was a “response to the current slowdown in the UK housebuilding market”.

Thirty-five workers were told the news on Monday, while a month ago 24 other staff entered into discussions with the company about their future.

The news follows a consolidation of its operations on three other sites – Milton Keynes, Dewsbury and Gransden – in a move designed to refocus the company’s timber frame operation in Milton Keynes to provide a service-led offering to customers.

The Tredegar factory was originally opened by Alpha Timber Frame in 1997 before being taken over by Century Homes of Ireland in 2002. Century immediately invested in a £500,000 Randek assembly line.

Century was taken over by Kingspan in 2005, with the factory passing into ownership of Kingspan Century and then into Kingspan Off-Site.