Courtaulds splits as fibres nosedive
15 Jan 2000
One of the UK's oldest chemical firms, Courtaulds, is to break up. The company has announced a split into three separate concerns, in a bid to lessen the effects of cyclical pressures. Some 500 jobs about one in five will be lost at the company's offices in Daventry and Derby.
Courtaulds has been hit very badly by the financial upheaval in Asia. Exports of the viscose fibre Tencel to Southeast Asia have all but evaporated, according to chief executive Gordon Campbell normally, this region would account for up to half of all Tencel sales.
The break-up will split the company into three. The polymer products business, whose products include toothpaste tubes, will be sold, and the specialist paint division floated off under the name International Coatings. The Courtaulds name will only be attached to the last third, the viscose and acrylic fibres unit.
'This action continues Courtaulds' policy of concentrating on businesses which have strong market positions,' insists chemicals director Peter Rogers.
