By Beverly Rademacher

Copyright expressandstar

Most of the staff at steel-processing, stock-holding and distribution services firm C Brown & Sons (Steel) Ltd in Pedmore Road in Brierley Hill were sent home on August 15 for four weeks, with bosses reportedly telling employees the situation would be kept under review, and today (Friday September 26) it was confirmed administrators have been appointed.

Around 75 redundancies have been announced by the administrators Teneo Financial Advisory Limited but a swift sale of the business has been agreed – safeguarding 28 jobs.

Kingswinford-based USP Steels Limited, a leading steel stockholder and service centre, has acquired the business and assets of C Brown in a pre-pack transaction, Teneo confirmed today shortly after being appointed.

A statement issued by the administrators said: “Julian Heathcote and Paul Meadows of Teneo Financial Advisory Limited were appointed as joint administrators of C. Brown & Sons (Steel) Ltd.

“Shortly following their appointment, the joint administrators sold the steel decoiling and stockholding business and assets of C Brown in a pre-pack transaction to USP Steels Limited, a leading steel stockholder and service centre, based in Dudley.”

The sale comes after a decision was taken to “temporarily pause operations in August this year, whilst it evaluated strategic options” – the statement said, and under the terms of the deal USP will acquire C Brown’s steel decoiling and stockholding business, safeguarding 28 employees.

The administrators added that the remaining operations, including the profiling and Cebron motors divisions, will be wound down, leading to 75 redundancies – with seven employees currently being kept on to assist with the wind down of operations.

Julian Heathcote, joint administrator, said: “This transaction preserves part of C Brown’s business and safeguards 28 employees. Unfortunately, despite approaching a number of parties and receiving inbound interest, we were unable to secure a more positive outcome for the rest of C Brown’s operations. Our specialist team are supporting all impacted employees with making claims on the government redundancy payments service.”

Glyn Costigan, CEO of USP based on Gibbons Industrial Park in Dudley Road, said the acquisition would strengthen USP’s business making it “stronger, more competitive and better positioned”.

He said: “This is an incredibly exciting new chapter for USP Steels, our supply partners and customers.

“The acquisition of the C. Brown’s decoiling and stockholding business not only strengthens our business and its capabilities but also reinforces our long-term commitment to remaining at the forefront of the steel industry.

“With much-needed increased capacity, and a renewed focus on 100% in-house processing, USP Steels is now stronger, more competitive and better positioned to serve the market today and tomorrow.”