JULY 21 - The news breaks
The Northern Echo is told the shock news that Cleveland Bridge has called in administrators, putting hundreds of jobs at risk. Staff at the company tell us they were told to come in and retrieve personal effects from their desks and that there was now a 48-hour battle to find a buyer.
Shocked reaction
Reactions start to flood in from workers and MPs, and the first stark statement from the company says:
"HR1 notices have been registered and all 230 staff have been informed about potential redundancies. We are actively taking advice and looking at all oppportunites.
Global success
We looked back at the scale of the company's achievements with iconic structures from Sydney to Middlesbrough.
Full order book
Politicians from all sides united to say there is still hope for the engineering giant, with the recurring team of Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, MPs Paul Howell and Peter Gibson and Darlington Council leader Heather Scott saying: "The company has a full order book for the next 18 months, this coupled with the firm’s history, expertise and highly skilled workforce makes us optimistic that a buyer will come forward quickly for this iconic business."
Our analysis
Our Business Editor Mike Hughes writes about a 'simply awful day' and says July 21st has become "a ‘where were you?’ moment for the North East and for investors in the region. We have to make sure those people with the funds understand that we are the sort of region that looks after our companies in good times and bad."
JULY 22 - Pandemic is blamed for collapse
Joint Administrators Martyn Pullin, David Willis, and Iain Townsend of specialist business advisory firm FRP say the global effects of Covid have crippled the factory. They told The Northern Echo: "No business is immune to the far-reaching impact of the pandemic, which has delayed major infrastructure projects around the world and put significant financial pressure on the teams behind them."
Six questions
The Echo sets out six clear questions that need answering as the dramatic situation unfolds.
Options on table
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen told the Northern Echo a range of "potential options" remain on the table but "time will tell" whether a deal can be agreed.
JULY 23 - Concerns for the supply chain
The Federation of Small Businesses says many small firms will feel the impact, saying: "Small businesses are often required to dedicate significant proportions of their resource and capacity to service large scale contracts, and the threat of losing the same could be devastating for already hard-hit businesses navigating their way out of the Covid pandemic."
JULY 26 - The first meeting
Administrators from FRP invite key stakeholders to update them on "significant interest from potential investors".
JULY 29 - Uncertainty over the future
Things are still unclear after the big meeting, and concern starts to rise. Minutes after the meeting ended, Ben Houchen told The Northern Echo: “The big issue here is time. It’s just not clear yet where the money will come from to retain this highly-skilled workforce. We know there are interested parties, but they have to tell us their plans very soon so we know how to help bring it all together in time.”
JULY 30 - Deadline passes for bids
Nerves are showing as a midnight deadline passes and their is no confirmation of any actual bids and no sign of any more emergency funding to keep production going.
A joint statement from the team battling to secure a future for Cleveland Bridge has said production could be restarted "subject to the formal agreement of terms with customers and finalisation of insurance arrangements" as talks go on with possible buyers.
AUGUST 2 - The boss leaves the company
Managing Director Chris Droogan had stepped further away from the key role over the last few weeks, but it was finally confirmed that he had formally left his position.
AUGUST 4 - The first redundancies
The news no-one wanted, as two weeks after the shock news that administrators were being called in, 53 staff were told they have lost their jobs.
AUGUST 5th - Workers return
After the redundancies - mainly in admin roles - 100 of the remaining staff are told they can report back to work and start manufacturing again on around two months of guaranteed work from existing projects.
AUGUST 10 - Axed workers sue company
Around a dozen of the 53 staff who were made redundant claim the company failed to properly consult staff.
AUGUST 17 - Two bids on the table
As an extended deadline passed, there had been a number of companies and investors from across the world who have expressed interest, and that came down to just two that the administrators believe give the best chance of the Cleveland Bridge site being saved, and many of the workers keeping their jobs.
AUGUST 25 - More meetings
One week after the new deadline passed, more meetings were taking place to pin down details. Nervous times for the workers.
AUGUST 27 - Hope of an annnouncement
The Northern Echo was told that there was one clear bid left on the table, and that a final set of checks could mean signatures on documents.
SEPTEMBER 3 - Silence from inside the factory
As the clock kept ticking and there was still no news about the future of Cleveland Bridge and 153 staff still on its books, there wasunderstandable concern that this could end with bad news.
SEPTEMBER 9 - The worst news
The Northern Echo is sent a copy of a letter to workers saying the fight is over. There is no buyer and redundancies will have to take place.
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