Castle Cement to axe 35 jobs and mothball a kiln

Castle Cement has announced it will axe 35 jobs and mothball one kiln as it struggles to cope with the housing downturn.

The workers will be lost from the firm’s Ketton plant, where one kiln will be mothballed until the market recovers.

A spokesman for the group, which is owned by Hanson UK, said it was also looking at making changes to its distribution because it had vehicles sitting unused on sites.

“We are making a number of proposals to right size the business in the market, which is looking pretty grim,” he said.

“One kiln will be mothballed at Ketton, where there are two, but it will be ready to switch on when market demand returns.”

Staff have entered a 30 day consultation on the job losses.