Car parts company cuts 550 jobs

Staff turned up for work on Monday to find themselves locked out

A car parts group which went into administration for the second time in a week has made 550 of its 600 employees redundant, it has confirmed.

Just 50 "skeleton staff" will remain at LSUK, Lucas, which was taken over by Euro Car Parts (ECP) in an apparent rescue formerly deal last Wednesday.

On Monday, staff at its 53 branches and the Sheffield HQ were locked out and told the company had ceased trading.

An ECP spokesman said the redundancies had been made with "deepest regret".

Unpaid wages

He explained that "tight timescales" meant that there had been no opportunity to communicate the information to employees before Monday.

The administrators Tenon Recovery would contact staff within the next five days regarding unpaid wages and other entitlements.

"Tenon will keep employees informed of further information as soon as it becomes available and will aim to keep the process as quick and transparent as possible in order to minimise distress for employees at this difficult time," said the spokesman.

They would ensure wages were made the priority wherever possible, he added.

Several interested parties had expressed an interest in LSUK, according to Tenon.

As well as its branch network which supplies car parts and motoring services, LSUK operates subsidiaries M I Diesel Products, Protech Automotive (UK) and Yeovil Rewind.

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