ONE of the borough's standout manufacturers has gone into administration - with the loss of nearly 500 jobs.

Bosses at the Cartwright Group, which has been operating for 68 years, called in business recovery officials recently, after the firm was hit heavily by the pandemic.

And now it has been confirmed that 490 positions are to be lost at the Broadheath-based trailer builder, which has had contracts with Royal Mail, TNT and Airbus to its name.

Around 260 roles at the family-run firm, which also has depots in Leeds, Glasgow and Aldridge in the West Midlands, are said to have been preserved, after the leasing firm Zenith agreed to take over a portion of the business.

Administrators Michael Magnay and Dan Smith say the Zenith deal will see the fleet services and rentals arms of the Altrincham company sold to Contract Vehicles, the commercial vehicle division of Zenith.

But Mr Magnay added: " While we are pleased that a total closure of the group has been avoided, we regret that today's announcement includes a number of redundancies.

"Our thanks go out to all the employees at what we appreciate is a difficult time, and we are providing support to those affected."

Just seven years ago Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg was visiting the site to unveil multi-million pound plans for 300 new jobs there.