Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Thirty Dundee jobs go as Low & Bonar completes €27m grass yarns sale

An employee at work in the premises of Low & Bonar, Dundee.
An employee at work in the premises of Low & Bonar, Dundee.

Dundee-founded textile manufacturer Low & Bonar (L&B) has completed the €27 million (£22.75m) sale of its artificial grass yarns business to the Mattex Group of Dubai.

The move has cost around 30 jobs at the group’s Caldrum Works in Dundee.
Prior to the sale it was the workplace for about 80 people who were engaged in the manufacture of artificial grass and carpet backing.

The loss of artificial grass leaves only carpet backing where about 50 staff are employed.

Carpet backing is one of Low & Bonar’s main products and there is not thought to be any threat to its manufacture continuing in the city for the foreseeable future.

In a statement confirming the grass yarns sale to Mattex, the group said the information and consultation process with affected employees has been completed.

Earlier this year L&B said the sale of grass yarns to Mattex would allow it to invest in higher margin businesses achieving better returns.

The grass yarns sale to Mattex would reduce borrowings by around €29m after costs of €1m, and provide flexibility for expansion.

Mattex does not have any manufacturing plants in the UK, so its purchase of L&B’s grass yarns business would see that operation move overseas.

Low & Bonar was founded in Dundee in 1903 and employed thousands of citizens at the height of the jute trade.

The sale to Mattex also involved the group’s Abu-Dhabi production plant as well as L&B interests in Europe, the United States and other assets from the sports and leisure business unit.

In the six months to May 31, L&B’s profit before tax, amortisation and non-recurring items from continuing operations rose by 1% to £10.6m.

Revenues rose by 2.4% to £180.6m while operating profits increased by 2.3% to £13.3m.

The growth was attributed to profits and margin progression in Building & Industrial, Civil Engineering and Interior & Transportation businesses.

Non-recurring costs of £200,000 were incurred for the new Colback manufacturing factory in China, where sales were initially ahead of plan.

The joint Bonar Natpet venture with Saudi Arabia’s National Petrochemical Industry made a loss, and L&B were trying to sell the venture.

L&B chairman Martin Flower said at the time: “We are starting to realise the benefits of the reorganised business structure and leadership.

“We remain confident of meeting the board’s expectations for the full year.”