Totalled - 167 Liverpool Livelihoods Levelled By Crash

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• Totalled - 167 Liverpool Livelihoods Levelled By Crash

Liverpool's massive fabricator Total Glass has ceased trading with the loss of 167 jobs with no chance at this stage of any rescue.

A small contingent  of staff members will be kept on in the short-term to help with the administration as Sarah O’Toole and Jason Bell of Grant Thornton wind down the business. The pair were appointed administrators on 19 October by its directors, although Total Glass has not been able to fulfil its commitments since the end of September.

The business was founded in 1981 and had built a solid reputation for manufacturing and supplying both PVC-U and aluminium windows, doors, conservatories and patio doors - without subbing out any production to other fabricators. The company also manufactured fire doors for both domestic and commercial markets and commercial curtain walling and screens.

The firm's substantial premises (120,000sq.ft) sit on the Knowsley Business Park in Merseyside. At its peak, Total made 5,000 doors and windows a week and employed 270 people including fitting teams with a particular emphasis on commercial projects. It supplied UK wide. The company enjoyed an annual turnover of  about £25 million.

Heavy losses

Following heavy losses in the year to January 2020 the business faced a number of challenges and then, as the UK entered the Covid-19 lockdown in March, things got messy.

Whilst the company survived the national lockdown it experienced supply issues in September 2020 and attempts to raise funds to recapitalise the business were ultimately unsuccessful and the company - and thus effectively ceased trading at the end of September 2020.

The majority of staff have been made redundant.

Sale of assets

Administrator, Sarah O’Toole said: “It is always unfortunate when any redundancies need to be made, yet the cessation of trade a number of weeks prior to our appointment, coupled with product supply challenges in the sector, significantly limited the prospects of any business sale.  Our focus now is on supporting the staff affected and the orderly realisation of the assets of the company.”

The company is known to have invested heavily and consistently in its production technology and machinery - all of which will be put up for sale.

Picture: Inside a very quite Total Glass factory as it prepares to close for good with the loss of 167 jobs.

Article written by Cathryn Ellis
22nd October 2020

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