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Thu March 28 2024

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Laing O’Rourke scales back Bison operations

15 Aug 12 Laing O’Rourke is closing its Bison concrete products factory in Scotland and downsizing operations at its main plant in Derbyshire.

The workforce at the Uddingston factory in Lanarkshire was told yesterday that the plant would close on completion of current orders. Some 55 people are set to lose their jobs.

A review of operations and future pipeline opportunities has also determined the need to cut shifts at the Swadlincote HQ plant in Derbyshire, which will become Bison's sole factory.

Laing O’Rourke also plans to merge and relocate a number of central overhead positions with its Explore Industrial Park near Worksop. These proposal place a further 70 jobs at risk of redundancy.

A spokesman for Laing O’Rourke said: “Bison is a company with a strong heritage and brand reputation. Laing O’Rourke assumed full ownership of the group in January 2012 and is totally committed to securing its long term future. The continued depressed state of the construction and manufacturing markets has led to Bison’s Uddingston operation making losses over a sustained period of time. This situation cannot be allowed to continue and decisive action is necessary to ensure a successful future for the business.”

He added: “Our priority is to support our workforce through this unsettling time and over the coming weeks we will be consulting them around the details of this proposal.”

Bison was established in 1919 by two former Royal Engineer officers for the invention and production of precast concrete ‘pill-boxes’. It has since always been at the forefront of the precast concrete industry, producing a multitude of precast concrete building components.

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