Jobs at risk after British Ceramic Tile deal

A 30-day consultation process is under way as continued weak performance of the UK and export building material sectors will mean both companies, which employ more than 400 staff between them, have to streamline operations.

It has not been decided which company will bear the brunt of any possible job losses, with production, sales and administration staff at the Newton Abbot company all under threat, a spokesman told Insider.

"If redundancies do have to be made then the total number across both sites will be less than 100 employees," the company said.

BCT, which opened a new 40m factory in 2009, cut 83 jobs in July, from a workforce of 380, as a result of falling demand and a new 2m kiln, which helped to streamline processes.

Chief executive Matthew Gazzard said: "Any loss of British jobs, particularly in these tough times, is extremely regrettable and we aim to ensure the process is as smooth and fair as possible."

It was claimed the deal with Ceramic Prints will create one of the largest tile companies in the UK.

Turnover at BCT increased by 3.5m to 25.9m for the year to 30 November 2010, according to the last set of accounts filed.

However, the company's pre-tax losses widened to 12.2m, compared with 11.8m in 2009, as the fall in new housing construction since 2008 led to reduced demand for tiles.

Ceramic Prints, which was founded in 1983 in West Yorkshire by Tony Taylor, imports and distributes tile, stone and glass decorative products from its 150,000 sq ft distribution centre in Brighouse.

The enlarged business will be dual-sited in Devon and Brighouse.

Gazzard added: "We bring manufacturing scale and Ceramic Prints brings additional product, marketing and supply chain experience, as well as much-valued customers and suppliers.

"The newly enlarged company now places us in a very strong position from which we can better service customers both in the UK and abroad."

Tony Taylor will stay with the group as commercial director and will assume full responsibility for all aspects of sales and marketing, product management and design.

Doyle Lawson and Hepatica

No, Doyle Lawson did not change the name of his band.  It is still widely known as

Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, and what a school of bluegrass it is.  I got to hear it

live for the first time Saturday night.

Out of respect, I am even distinguishing between the ampersand that pairs Lawson with

Quicksilver, a printer's mark that signifies a strong partnership between the

legendary mandolin player and the younger musicians, and the simple word "and."

The "and" means that the two, Doyle Lawson and Hepatica, are connected but not at the

hip.  So, no, I am not lobbying for a new name or executing a typo.  I have simply

paired Doyle Lawson here with a spring flower in honor of a day that gave me precious

memories that will linger ever near me.

Family is precious to me, it is true.  The dear mother and dear father in "Precious

Memories" that the band performed drew tears.  Spring wildflowers create precious

memories too.  They bloom right at my feet as sacred scenes unfold from the Virginia

Creeper Trail to the woods behind my house.

Saturday morning, before I headed to the concert up the road, I walked on the

Virginia Creeper Trail from Watauga towards Abingdon in search of Hepatica.  Ever

since one of my friends had called the week before to tell me that she was looking at

Hepatica near Alvarado, I knew I had to find time in my schedule to go for a walk.

As we travel on life's pathways, sometimes we need to slow down.  I did, walking

along the trail hoping specifically for Hepatica, an official sign of spring, I first

encountered more Bloodroot than I had seen in my life up to that point.

I dubbed that stretch of the trail Bloodroot Heaven.  Only whose heaven was it?  My

heaven, with all the Bloodroot you could ever hope to find in one setting, or

Bloodroot's heaven, a place where Bloodroot reappears each year like hope?

Let me not forget the Rue Anemone.  Its blossoms lined the course of my walk too.  I

got down on the ground and studied its blossoms, counting petals, counting and

comparing petals to the petals of the Virginia Spring Beauty and wondering when or if

I would spot Hepatica.

Since we do not always know what the years or trails may hold, the morning could have

enchanted me with Rue Anemone, Virginia Spring Beauty, Violets, and Spice Bush. 

Still, I was longing for Hepatica, finding at first only a flowerless leaf.  Then on

a rock, just as I was thinking I had missed the harbinger of spring because I had

delayed my first wildflower hike, I saw Hepatica blooming.

Finally, patient or lucky, I found the wildflower whose memory kept me warm with hope

all winter long.  Lavender petals teetered over variegated leaves.  One open blossom

leaned towards the sun, with two others about to open.  I took a photo.  Maybe I

should write a bluegrass song.