AN ENTIRE workforce will be made redundant from the Bridgwater Roger Bullivant plant, it has been confirmed.

Bosses at the concrete manufacturing firm on the Colley Lane Industrial Estate say they have no choice but to make 14 workers redundant as the site is being bulldozed to make way for a new access road into the estate.

The Mercury revealed earlier this month that Somerset County Council has made a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) for the land in order to construct the Colley Lane Southern Access Road which will allow access to the estate from the south.

Bosses say the CPO would reduce the usable area of the site by half making it impossible to create a viable manufacturing facility.

Following the completion of a business review, a spokesperson for Roger Bullivant said: “Regrettably it is necessary for us to close the unit with the loss of 14 jobs.

“Clearly the alternative – which is to source another suitable site in the vicinity – has been evaluated however the costs associated with finding and securing a suitable site at the right price and investing in and developing a brand new manufacturing unit from scratch are outweighed by the savings made by manufacturing the product we need in the South-West at our main manufacturing unit in the East Midlands.”

“Two members of staff will be retained at the Bridgwater site to manage and implement the stock draw-down and the closure of the unit.”

It is expected that the site will be closed by autumn. A Somerset County Council spokesperson said: “We are sorry to hear that Roger Bullivant Ltd has made its decision to close.

“We have been in on-going discussions with the company for some time, which have now concluded. We do require small areas of land from other businesses and these negotiations are continuing.”