Some 350 jobs will be lost at Kent-based steelmaker Thamesteel, the administrators handling the failed company have confirmed.
Joint administrator Rod Weston, of Mazars, admitted “a large number of redundancies need to be made” while a buyer is sought for the business.
The manufacturer collapsed into administration earlier this week due to financial difficulties caused by the global slowdown.
Weston said: “This morning, the administrators, unfortunately, had to inform the workforce that a large number of redundancies need to be made.
“However 50 jobs are being kept so as to maintain the plant in full working order while the administrators work hard to try and find a buyer for the business.”
“Production at Thamesteel’s Sheerness plant ended several weeks ago and the company has entered voluntarily entered administration.”
General secretary of Community, the UK’s largest steel industry union, bemoaned the treatment staff at the steelmakers have suffered.
He said: “The staff have only had 48 hours notice that they were likely to be sacked – they haven’t been paid for January and there’s no prospect of any money in the near future.
“Furthermore, their right of legal redress is very limited. That’s the reality of employment protection in the UK at the moment.”
The union is currently working with Mazars to find an alternative investor for the site and is also organising an on-site support day for redundant workers next week.
Thamesteel – based at a 50-acre site in Sheerness, on the Isle of Sheppey, employed some 400 full-time employees.
Staff were told they will not be paid their January wages despite the company having traded throughout the month.
Thamesteel was rumoured to have been subject of potential buyout from oil firm Trafigura but the deal reportedly fell through.
By Andy Pearce
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