Coronavirus: Pottery firm Steelite cuts staff and hours

A pottery manufacturer is closing down for an extra week and cutting hours due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Steelite International said a small number of redundancies had been made and some managers had taken a temporary pay cut.

The Stoke-on-Trent company had previously announced workers had been put on a four-day working week and will now move to three days.

The firm makes supplies for the hospitality industry.

A spokesman said: "In light of the Coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having on business globally, the decision has been taken to shut down the Stoke-on-Trent factory and other facilities in north Staffordshire for two weeks over the Easter period, rather than the usual one week."

It said after the Easter period, hourly paid employees would work a three-day week and all office-based staff would go on to short-time working.

"This will affect around 650 employees at the company's Middleport factory and distribution centre as well as the Cross 50 warehousing facility at Newcastle-under-Lyme," the firm said.

"The decision has not been taken lightly but is needed to protect the health, security and welfare of all employees and their families and to help minimise the economic impact on the business going forward."

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