In Penticton, British Columbia, Canada, modular building manufacturer Britco laid off most of its employees earlier this month, in what the company is calling a “curtailing.”
According to Infotel CA, Western One, Britco’s parent company, announced the sale of Britco’s rental and U.S. manufacturing businesses on March 6 to Black Diamond Group, along with a group of investors led by Britco USA’s management team.
Black Diamond Group provides workforce accommodation, modular buildings, energy services, and full turnkey lodging and major project solutions including planning and management, logistics, and catering to customers in Canada, the United States and Australia.
“Western One is evaluating strategic options for Britco’s Canadian manufacturing operations, which continue to be negatively impacted by the recent downturn in western Canadian markets,” the company said in a press release at the time.
About one month later, Western One announced an agreement with Triple M Modular Ltd. to buy Britco’s Canadian operations.
The layoffs in Penticton were announced the same day.
“I can’t say how many employees are affected by the layoff, but a few employees are still at work reconfiguring production lines at the facility,” said Meghan Cairns, Britco Manager of Marketing and Communications.
“We have curtailed our production line at the moment because we’re reconfiguring the plant to build both single family homes and commercial projects.”
Cairns was also careful to point out that the company hopes to bring back employees in the future, based on need.
“We’re not shutting the doors, just a curtailing for now. We’re still committed to the Penticton community,” said Cairns.
“The intent of the company is to reopen the plant, the future date of which is unknown at this point.”
More on Britco’s work in Canada, including their buildout of a workforce housing project in northern Alberta, Canada for Devon Energy Corp., is linked here.
For more on the Canadian Modular Market, including Enerdynamic Hybrid Technologies Corp. (EHT) and their goal to deliver 50,000 homes in the nation of Ivory Coast for a branch of its military, click here. ##
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Submitted by RC Williams to the Daily Business News for MHProNews.
