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Wrightbus: Would-be buyers were asked to lease factory for £1m

BBC Wrightbus factoryBBC
The factory which Wrightbus operates from is not owned by a group company

The family which owned Wrightbus have denied they acted unreasonably during attempts to sell the business.

The Wrightbus factory is owned by Jeff Wright, separately from the manufacturing company.

It is understood that potential buyers were being asked for about £1m a year to lease the property.

Meanwhile, a church led by Mr Wright has said it understands "the hurt, anger and confusion felt by so many" at the loss of 1,200 jobs in Ballymena.

The Green Pastures charity received £15m in donations from Wrightbus over six years.

The Wright Group went into administration on Wednesday.

On Friday, a Green Pastures Church spokesperson said that many of its congregation "have been personally affected by these job losses".

"We are doing all we can to support them at this time," the statement continued.

"As with any donation we receive as a church, we are incredibly grateful for the support the Wright family have offered us. 

"They, along with many others, chose to be generous when their family business enabled them to do so."

PAcemaker Green Pastures churchPAcemaker
Wrightbus donated £15m to Green Pastures over six years

The Wrightbus factory is owned separately from the manufacturing company by a firm called Whirlwind Property Two, which is controlled by Jeff Wright.

This is understood to have been a sticking point during the sales negotiation and was alluded to by the prime minister in a BBC interview on Thursday.

The Wright family said that one bidder had agreed to rent the factory but later withdrew the offer.

STEPHEN DAVISON/Pacemaker Jeff WrightSTEPHEN DAVISON/Pacemaker
Wrightbus's majority shareholder is Jeff Wright, who leads Green Pastures, a religious charity

They said: "Last week there were two final bidders in discussions regarding acquisition of Wright Group.

"A rental agreement for the sites was reached with one bidder, who then pulled out of the deal on Friday 20 September.

"A second bidder discussed purchasing the sites, but no formal letter of offer was made from that bidder.

"Any reports to the contrary are completely inaccurate."

Mid and East Antrim Council held a redundancy clinic at The Braid in Ballymena on Friday.

It said it had identified 250 job vacancies that could be suitable for workers who had been made redundant.