Knauf Insulation in temporary factory shutdown

Knauf Insulation has announced that it will close its factory in St Helens for three months due to the downturn.

A statement from the company said: "With a significant reduction in new housing starts due mainly to the ‘credit crunch’, coupled with much slower sales than expected from the Government’s energy efficiency scheme - the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target - Knauf Insulation has taken the opportunity to close its factory in St Helens for three months.

"The slowdown in the market has resulted in significantly lower than expected sales and has consequently led to an unsustainable rise in inventories."

The factory is now expected to re-open in the first quarter of 2009.