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Enterprise

North East jobs threat as massive chemicals firm goes into administration

Venator Materials employs 500 people on Teesside and Tyneside, and more than 2,200 around the world

Venator's Wynyard Park headquarters(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

The holding group of a chemicals company employing more than 500 people in the North East has gone into administration, though there are hopes that local jobs can be saved.

Venator Materials plc - which operates from Wynyard and Greatham, on Teesside, and from Birtley in Gateshead - has appointed professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal as administrators.

The firm is the overall holding company for the Venator Group, which makes titanium dioxide and performance additives for use in paint, plastics and other materials. It has operations in the 海角视频, Spain, France, the US, Malaysia and Germany, employing 519 people in the 海角视频 and 2,249 globally.

Venator has been struggling for a number of years, and went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection proceedings in the US to reduce its debt. Accounts for the parent firm show that it has made significant losses for the last seven years.

Venator's Greatham works at Hartlepool(Image: Google Maps)

The administrators have stressed that Venator’s 海角视频 trading operations will remain working as normal and that they are looking to find a buyer for them. Operations in the US and France are also trading as normal. They have also asked anyone interested in buying the firms to approach them, and said that all other parts of the global group remain under the governance of their respective boards.

Bryan Snell, president and chief executive officer at Venator, said: “I recognise this news may be unsettling for many of our colleagues and I want to personally thank everyone for their professionalism, resilience, and dedication during this time. Our priority is to work alongside the administrators and do everything we can to support a successful sale of available entities, securing a sustainable, long-term future for these businesses.”

Mark Firmin, joint administrator and managing director at Alvarez & Marsal said: “Venator Group has been severely impacted by increased competition and rising costs in recent months. The appointment of administrators now provides a platform for restructuring. We will work closely with the Venator leadership team to progress the sale of the 海角视频 businesses and other businesses worldwide.”

In its most recent accounts, published in April, Venator announced revenues of more than $1.5bn but an operating loss of $338m.