Tenmat Acquisition Means Layoffs at Railko

At least 40 workers will lose their jobs as the Railko (UK) plant in Loudwater, UK, is shuttered following its recent acquisition by competitor Tenmat Ltd. (UK) Most will be lost by third quarter, and the remainder no more than a year from now. Railko, founded in 1957, pioneered the use of engineered plastics, particularly in bearing applications. Lately, Railko had specialized in plastic bearings for the automotive, rail, marine and industrial markets. In 2003, the company had employed 125 people, 95 at the facility in Loudwater, a suburb of High Wycombe in the south of England near Heathrow Airport. Worldwide, Railko maintained a network of more than 40 distributors and sales offices. Tenmat tried to acquire the troubled company back in 2003, but was stymied in its four-month negotiations and due diligence by Railko's parent, United Industries. Several employees then told eBearing they believed United Industries had no intention of selling Railko, but was buying time with its creditors. During the 2003 negotiations, Tenmat disclosed it did not intend to keep the Railko facility running; product overlap meant its fate would be absorption into an existing Tenmat location. United Industries finally fell into receivership (bankruptcy); Tenmat moved in quickly and made the acquisition. Tony Moore, Tenmat Managing Director, said: "There are going to be some redundancies over the course of the year. We have been in consultation with employees and that is ongoing. No details have yet been released." Tenmat engineers and manufactures specialized, high performance, non-metallic composite engineering materials and components. Key among the end products are a wide variety of composite bearings (under the Fiberglide and Feroform brands, for example), ceramics, fire protection and insulation materials. Tenmat supplies products to a broad cross section of automotive, aerospace, industrial and naval applications throughout the world. The company, for example, supplies shaft drive bearings to the United States, German, and British Navys. With two locations in England, Tenmat also operates Tenmat GmbH (Germany), Tenmat Inc. (USA), Tenmat SARL (France) and Tenmat Ltd. (Italy), employing almost 300 workers in all. Mr. Moore went on to say: "It is our intention to maintain some services from High Wycombe. We deeply regret the need for these redundancies. Unfortunately, the business dynamic suggests that some things are better done at one site. There have also been other issues with the Railko site, including environmental things." Tenmat's plant in nearby Manchester is the most likely destination for Railko's production equipment.