Staff at Tretford Ltd. in Waterford have been notified today of redundancy details at the company’s factory on the IDA Industrial Estate in Waterford City.
Originally established as Waterford Carpets in 1969, the company was taken over by German-based Weseler Teppich Gmbh in 2020 and reset up as Tretford Ltd.
Tretford manufactures commercial-grade carpets with 24 staff members currently in employment at the site where Tretford plan to close operations following a 30-day consultation period.
The company will officially enter a 30-day Collective Redundancy situation with a 30 Day Consultation period.
The company said the decision is based on two factors, a drop in global demand and the cost of manufacturing in Ireland.
A spokesperson for the company says:
“We recognise the impact that this decision will have on the staff at Tretford in Waterford but it is a decision that has not been taken lightly. The company has seen astronomical cost increases which have resulted in significant losses for the company over the last number of years. The Waterford site had been operating on a 3-day week for a number of years and unfortunately, with the increasing cost of energy and production costs operating the plant in Waterford is no longer a viable option. Going forward all production will be done in our German plant."
Employees were informed this morning and a consultation process with employee representatives is to take place.
