Proclad International Forging has confirmed it will be closing its Livingston site, following losses for six consecutive years.
The oil and gas pipeline supplier said that the decision would result in 10 staff losing their jobs. However, the employees will be offered alternative roles within the group "where possible", in a bid to retain their services.
The company is currently finishing work on its order books before closing.
Proclad confirmed the company will keep its headquarters in Glenrothes open, despite the group losing money each year since 2016.
The business was restructured in 2015 in an attempt to cut costs.
The most recent accounts, up to the period ending November 2020, revealed losses of £313,499. These were down on 2019, when it lost £680,511. The profit and loss account revealed it had lost £3m in total.
The company owed £2.8m within a year to its creditors. During 2020, it claimed £9,447 from the UK Government’s furlough scheme.
Mark Penman, director at Proclad, blamed the pandemic for putting “nail in the coffin” for the business, noting “fundamental changes to the marketplace” which led to “long-term trading challenges and difficulties”.
He explained that low volumes and short lead times, in a "niche market" meant the business has struggled to recover from a market downturn in 2015. “The last few years haven't seen any recovery and I think the customers that were previously coming to the company now have moved towards China and Italy to manufacture at far less cost than we can produce.
“The company would have paid people off earlier, but because the volumes of work weren't there it was retained strategically with a view the company would be financially supported until the market recovered.
“However, the market hasn't picked up, so the decision was taken to close the company,” Penman added. “We've supported the company for six years with millions of pounds of investment but, financial resources are finite, we just can’t keep putting money into businesses that are loss making.”
Proclad is a subsidiary of Kuwaiti oil and gas services giant National Industries Group.
Penman wrote in his director’s report: “The directors propose to wind up the activities of the business in an orderly fashion with planning for the event currently ongoing.”
A former employee of the company told Insider: “The company has been making losses for many years - it wasn't in a stable state before Covid came along.
“They had a restructuring many years ago and it actually lost half of the workforce, but still it wasn’t enough; it's sad to see a company of 25 to 30 years go.”
Don't miss the latest headlines with our twice-daily newsletter - sign up here for free.
