A leading UK financial services provider has halted the production at a modular homes factory near Leeds putting 450 jobs at risk.
The factory – one of the biggest in the UK – manufactures homes in prefabricated modules that are put together on site, which is faster than tradition construction and has been hailed as a possible solution to the housing shortage.
However, Legal & General, a leading UK financial services provider, is to stop production at the factory while it reviews the future of the business, hanging jobs in the balance and casting doubt over the pioneering sector’s prospects.
Although, amid long planning delays and weak demand – the business has made slower progress than expected and ran up cumulative losses of £176m since it was established in 2016 – Legal & General has informed staff it is ceasing the construction of new modules and will let the majority of them go.
Following this news, the company will begin a consultation with employees about redundancies, encouraging a number of them to build modular homes for existing projects throughout the country.
Bill Hughes, Chair of the Legal & General modular homes board, said: ‘We are reluctantly proposing to reduce business activity and cease production of new modules at the factory.
‘We recognise this will be a challenging and uncertain period for our staff and we will be actively exploring redeployment opportunities and supporting them during this difficult time.
‘As such, we are continuing to actively explore all options available to us and will retain a select workforce to ensure high quality delivery and aftercare services for our existing customers, whilst engaging with each of our partners regarding ongoing modular projects.’
As well as the factory near Leeds being forced to close, several other modular housing firms are also treading on thin ice; three went bust last year. One of the few profitable firms is the Bedford-based Vision Modular Systems.
Image: Clayton Cardinalli