Staff at an Angus blinds maker have been given the crushing news they will lose their jobs days before Christmas.
Stevens Scotland Ltd is to cease production at its Brechin factory at the end of December.
More than 50 workers learned on Tuesday their last day of employment will be Friday December 20.
The firm will then cease trading on December 31.
It will mark the end of more than 50 years of production at what was one of the UK’s most successful window blind manufacturers.
Confirmation of a devastating jobs blow for the Angus town comes a month after news of an “operational review” at the firm.
It was described at the time as an “internal matter”.
‘We knew it was going to happen’
One Brechin worker said staff were resigned to redundancy in the wake of the October announcement.
“It’s obviously not great to be told you’re going to be out of work five days before Christmas,” they said.
“But we knew it was going to happen.”
Many staff are long-serving employees of the family-founded firm. And the vast majority live in Angus.
The factory insider said: “We’ve been told there is a possibility we could be put on short time before the factory closes.
“We weren’t actually spoken to directly by the senior management this week.
“When this was first announced there was the offer of other roles at other factories like Nottingham but that is no longer on the table.
“Some had also asked about a move to another factory at Renfrew but that also isn’t happening.”
2015 takeover of Stevens Scotland
Stevens was established in the Angus town in 1968 and grew to become a premier UK supplier of internal window blinds.
The company boasted market-leading performance and invested heavily in state-of-the-art equipment.
It opened a 66,000 sq. ft. split level factory at Denburn Way around 2000.
Industry giant Hunter Douglas bought the firm in 2015.
The acquisition by the Dutch-based company followed a 17% rise in turnover at the Angus outfit.
The parent company has been asked for comment on the Brechin closure.
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