New era for collapsed engineering group John M. Henderson

A long established Angus heavy engineering firm which collapsed into administration in October has been partially rescued with a dozen jobs saved.

The coke oven machinery division of John M Henderson of Arbroath has been taken over by Otto Simon Holdings of Cheshire.

Henderson’s, which has a history stretching back 150 years, and 12 of its employees will move to new premises in Forfar, where they will operate a sales and marketing, design engineering, procurement and installation service for their specialist product.

The manufacture of coke oven machinery will be sub-contracted to companies in the Angus area, potentially giving a significant boost to the local economy.

Gary McCombie, managing director of the John M Henderson Machines, said he was delighted to get the new company off the ground.

He continued: “This is fantastic news and a great result for the company. The name of the company which began in 1866 has been saved and it is a brand name that is respected all over the world.”

Mr McCombie said he was also pleased the vast majority of the remaining 77 workers laid off had since found new employment.