DOZENS of staff from a historic Kidderminster car part manufacturing firm have lost their jobs just weeks before Christmas after the company plunged into administration.

Smethwick Drop Forge Limited, based on Stourport Road, has closed and its 43 staff made redundant after administrators were called in earlier this week.

Financial problems, as a result of a period of falling sales and a failure to find a buyer for the company, following efforts by the management have been blamed for the closure.

Chris Pole and Mark Orton from KPMG Restructuring were appointed Joint Administrators on November 28.

Chris Pole, joint administrator and partner at KPMG, commented: : “Like many suppliers in the manufacturing industry, Smethwick Drop Forge has been affected by difficult trading conditions which has ultimately resulted in the directors taking the difficult decision to close its operations and place the business into administration.

“Over the coming days, our main focus is on supporting employees with their redundancy claims and seeking a buyer for the business’ assets while we work to effect an orderly closure of the business. We would encourage anybody who may be interested to contact the joint administrators as soon as possible.”

The company specialised in the forging, stamping and pressing of aluminium, carbon steels and stainless steel, and employed 43 people from its leasehold premises.

Smethwick Drop Forge’s roots are traced back to Dudley in 1826 with the setting up of a small company A Harper.

They later expanded and acquired a small forge in Rolfe Street Smethwick in 1912. The company later became Smethwick Drop Forgings in the 1920s and a second site bought in Kidderminster.

At its height, during the Second World War, the company employed more than 2,000 workers in both its Kidderminster and Smethwick bases. The Smethwick works closed down in 1981.