INITIAL linen and garments business in west Belfast is to close with the loss of 24 jobs following several years of unprofitable trading.
Despite earlier hopes of identifying a viable alternative, the firm - part of the Rentokil Initial group - issued a statement released yesterday outlining its intention to close operations on the Springfield Road.
The move comes following a "detailed consultation" period but there are still hopes that some of those affected - many of whom have been with the firm for over 20 years - can be relocated to other areas of the business.
But Unite union regional organiser Blaine Kilgallon, who has led responsibility for the union's membership at Initial in Belfast, has claimed work from the site will now be outsourced.
"The closure of the Initial facility on the Springfield Road has resulted in twenty-four employees being made redundant," he said.
"The company has attempted to justify the closure by claiming the site is no longer financially viable. Work from the site will now be outsourced to Birmingham."
Mr Kilgallon said the union had engaged with members and consulted with the company as well as local political representatives "to explore and exhaust" every avenue to prevent closure of the site.
"We understand that all Unite members who were initially threatened with compulsory redundancy due to the closure will continue in employment at Initial’s other Belfast base in Duncrue Street," he added.
"This is a positive result, and, coming on the back of this success, we will seek formal collective bargaining recognition for workers with the company in the near future.
“For those less fortunate and who have been made redundant, Unite, in conjunction with SIPTU who also have members with the company, calls on Initial to provide training and resources to help the affected workers into alternative employment."
Despite the impending closure, Initial operations director Brian Lynggaard said the firm remained "committed" to Northern Ireland would continue to operate its much larger washrooms and mats business which employs more than 30 people and serves around 2,500 customers across 4,000 premises.
"It is with great disappointment that we have taken this difficult decision to close our linen and garments business in Belfast," Mr Lynggaard said.
"We are working closely with all affected colleagues. At this time, we reluctantly expect to have to make 24 colleagues redundant, although we are still working to find alternative employment and are hoping to be able to reduce the final redundancy number further."
