Belmont works shuts after 126 years

The Belmont Bleaching and Dyeing Company, which has been in operation for 126 years, will cease production by the end of the year.

The move comes after the order book and goodwill of the company was sold for an undisclosed sum to Kaleidoscope Coloration Ltd, based at the Forge Bleachworks in Chinley.

Kaleidoscope will take the business to its High Peak plant over the next few months, and close the Belmont Village operation by December.

Belmont managing director Julian Smith said that the company had "given it its best shot," but that increasing globalisation, costs and red tape meant that the company was simply unable to compete in the changing market.

Mr Smith is currently in discussion with Kaleidoscope to see if any jobs from Bolton can be transferred to the Chinley site with the business.

But he said that the travelling distance would make the move impossible for many of the Belmont staff.

He added that the company was in consultation with the GMB union about redundancy terms and conditions, although only a minority of the workforce were union members.

Mr Smith also expressed disappointment and frustration at the attitude of the Government to the manufacturing sector since it came to power in 1997. He said: "This is very sad for me and all the staff here. The realisation among myself and the staff is that we have given the business our best shot, but we are simply not competitive.

"I am angry at the level of red tape and bureaucracy that the industry has seen under this Government. Mr Blair seems obsessed by it. Not only that, but there has been a complete lack of interest in investment in the sector. This is not the only company that has suffered.

"With increasing globalisation, companies like Belmont Bleaching and Dyeing are trying to compete with operations in India and China, where costs are much lower.

"Instead of helping, though, The volume of restrictive and costly legislation of the industry has accelerated under this Government."

"Environmental costs and permits costs tens of thousands of pounds, but we are forced to have them. We cannot hope take on companies abroad when our own Government seems intent on making things difficult in our own back yard."

Mr Smith's comments were echoed by the GMB union. A GMB union spokesman said: "Close to a million skilled jobs have vanished since 1997. The union wants to see increased state aid and state intervention to help sustain growth, as well as a level playing field for procurement."

Mr Smith said that the company had retained the buildings and the land at the bleachworks, and that he hoped the site could still be used in the future.

"The classification of the buildings here means that it would be fairly simple for small industrial units to open up at the site, and that's what I'm hoping for in the long run."

After opening in 1878, the Belmont Bleaching and Dyeing Company was for many years one of the country's foremost dyers, textile finishing and cotton bleaching specialists.

Fabrics were dyed for many different uses including clothing, furnishings and military applications. The company is one of the few in the UK capable of manufacturing a range of flame-retardant textiles.