Fabric sofa sales have been hit

Bridgend-based Christie Tyler announced last week the closure of its Cardiff and Ebbw Vale.

Senior managers are due to travel to Wales on Thursday to hold talks with union officials at the Carousel Furniture plant in Cardiff.

Then on Friday, the management team will hold further talks at the company's Wyvern Furniture factory at Ebbw Vale.

Christie Tyler has blamed the downturn in production of soft fabric, covered sofas on the growing consumer preference for leather furniture.

Union officials met managers a week ago and were told they had 90 day to come up with a rescue plan or find ways to minimise the job losses.

Manufacturing capacity

In a statement last week, Christie Tyler Group chief executive James Benfield said: "Christie-Tyler confirmed talks were taking place with employee representatives, which may lead to a reduction of manufacturing capacity with associated job losses.

Mr Benfield said: "This results from a marked downturn in the upholstery market combined with the increasing competitive pressure of low-cost imports."

The Christie Tyler group includes Pendragon, the UK's largest manufacturer of leather sofas.

Jobs at the company's Bridgend plants are not effected by the cutbacks.

It is exactly two years since the Christie Tyler group announced it was shedding 300 workers from its 2,000-strong workforce.

The jobs were lost at the company's factories in Caerphilly and Bridgend.