Up to 57 jobs to go as company shuts foundry

Ideal Heating said production, support and administration posts would go at its National Avenue site as a result of a major restructuring of its business.

The company said reviews over the years had highlighted the fact that the foundry had “ceased to provide a competitive advantage” but it “persevered nonetheless”.

It added: “However, the latest review showed that the gap between what we can buy and what we can make is simply too great.”

It will source the heat exchangers for boilers, cast at the foundry since 1905, from overseas.

The company said it was working with unions to mitigate the number of compulsory redundancies.

Hull North Labour MP Diana Johnson said such news made the coalition Government’s rhetoric about rebalancing the economy sound utterly hollow and proved how important it was for the Government to do everything possible to secure the £80m Siemens contract for a wind turbine factory in Hull.