Industry News

On 19^th October PwC was appointed as administrator for sixteen Caparo Industries Group companies including Darlaston-based Caparo Atlas Fastenings Ltd. At the end of October the closure of the historic UK fastener manufacturer was announced.

Caparo Industries Group is part of global network of businesses operating under the Caparo name, formed by Lord Paul in the 1960s when he moved to Britain from India.

The announcement that sixteen UK mainly steel related Caparo companies would enter administration came as Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the UK. The decision was strongly linked to the impact of low cost steel imports from China, also cited as a major factor in the closure the previous week of a UK blast furnace and the subsequent announcement of 1,200 job losses at Tata Steel’s UK operations.

Realistically this does not explain PwC’s assessment that Caparo Atlas Fastenings (‘Atlas’) was unviable, which became clear on 30^th October when the announcement was made that the Darlaston business had been closed with immediate effect, making 122 employees redundant. Caparo Forging Europe, which has two UK sites, and two other Caparo companies also closed. PwC said: “It is with regret that we have made these decisions today, but the commercial prospects of the affected businesses render them unviable.” 1,200 people continue to be employed in the rest of the Caparo companies in administration.

Situated in the UK’s so-called Black Country, the 19th century heart of England’s industrial revolution, ‘Atlas’ traded on the same site for close to 130 years. In 1887 FW Cotterell Ltd began manufacturing at Atlas Works in Darlaston – the eponymous founder having been recorded as making coach bolts as early as 1800. The company introduced the famous trade emblem of Atlas standing on a nut and bolt supporting the world on his shoulders, representing the role the company came to play in global fastener supply. From 1919 the site manufactured nuts, bolts and studs, as part of Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds. By the end of the Second World War, Atlas Works covered more than twenty acres (8 hectares) and employed 3,000 people. In 1982 the business was acquired by Armstrong and, incorporating the other acquisitions of GSF and Charles Richards, became Armstrong Fastenings Ltd. Caparo acquired Armstrong in 1989. In 2006, unable to reach a negotiated settlement with trustees over a GB£36 million pension fund liability, it placed Armstrong into administration. The Darlaston plant was reacquired from the administrators as Caparo Atlas Fastenings Ltd.

‘Atlas’ has been a major supplier to the UK automotive sector for many decades, from before the original Mini through to Jaguar Land Rover and JCB. It supplied a wide range of other sectors including construction, oil and gas, and defence, with fasteners from M4 to M24 diameter."