Decision on future of Fife factory with 100 staff to be taken within weeks

The future of a factory which employs 100 workers in Fife will be decided in the next month.

The Courier revealed in April that Silberline workers had been told the Leven operation could close.

Silberline produces industrial pigments and coatings used for a variety of applications, primarily car coatings.

The announcement to staff followed Silberline being acquired by German pigment company Eckart at the start of this year.

The closure would take place next year if it goes ahead.

More than four months after a consultation process started with workers, Silberline said a final decision is still to be made.

However, this is likely to be taken within the next month.

Silberline accounts show business pressures

The American company has run a factory in Leven since 1974, where around a quarter of its 450 global workforce is based.

Newly filed accounts for Silberline Ltd, for the year ending December 2023, show the pressures the business has been under.

The accounts reveal that turnover slumped from £19.8 million in 2022 to £16.4m last year. The business went from making a pre-tax profit of £153,000 to a pre-tax loss of £2.6m.

The profitable year in 2022 followed losses of £513,000 in 2021; £1.5m in 2020 and £239,000 in 2019.

A report with the accounts from chief executive Gary Karnish said there had been a combination of reduced customer demand and increasing costs.

He wrote: “An increase in input costs, including electricity and gas, resulted in a reduction in gross profit margin.”

Silberline acquisition brings questions on future of Fife factory

He said the acquisition of Silberline meant there was “new potential in driving the development of sustainable product innovations, benefiting both customers and employees.”

Mr Karnish added: “Consideration is being given as to how to best integrate the company into the new group.

“Options under consideration include the Leven site continuing as it, a potential downsizing of the site or the possibility of closure.

“At the time of approving these financial statements, no binding decisions have been made.”

Silberline operations director Alan Snaddon previously said the proposal to close the factory was the result of “multiple factors, including the global trend of regionalisation in our business”.

He confirmed: “We are still a few weeks away from making the full and final decision on our Leven plant.”