Safestyle: 680 workers made redundant after window firm enters administration

Administrators for Safestyle have said the business has made around 680 of its workers redundant after it fell into administration. Interpath Advisory said around 70 of the door and window maker’s 750 employees would be kept on in the short term to help wind down the business.

It comes after Safestyle said on Friday it intended to appoint administrators after failing to find a buyer. The Bradford-headquartered business has a manufacturing site in Wombwell, near Barnsley and 42 branches and depots across the country.

The company failed after facing a series of pressures, including runaway inflation and poor consumer confidence, administrators said. The unseasonably warm weather in September also dented demand for its products.

Rick Harrison, managing director at Interpath Advisory, said: “These are really challenging times for companies across the home improvement market. After seeing strong sales during the Covid lockdown periods, many companies are seeing trading being impacted by the cost-of-living crisis and soaring costs.”

GMB, a union that represents the workers, said 600 staff members were marched off site at Safestyle UK's factory in Barnsley. It said: "Safestyle suspended share trading, locked its gates and told staff that it intends to file for administration."

Barnsley Labour councillor Kevin Osbourne attended a protest in support of the affected workers on Monday (October 30). He wrote on X: "Dreadful scenes at Safestyle in Low Valley as workers are told that the company has gone into administration and they have been made redundant. Not exactly the way a career is meant to go. Where's the money gone?"