Collapse of jobs firm Spectrum costs 200 jobs

ABOUT 200 people have been made redundant as a recruitment firm based in Scotland and the north of England went into liquidation.

Spectrum Social Network, which traded as Spectrum Personnel, employed 30 people directly out of its two offices in Motherwell and Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.

It employed about 170 contractors placed with client businesses, who have also lost their jobs.

The company, which was founded 12 years ago, recruited and supplied temporary and contract workers, mainly to firms operating in the engineering and logistics sectors.

Liquidator Blair Nimmo of accountancy firm KPMG said yesterday that the business could not be rescued and was being closed down with the loss of all jobs.

“Despite its strong reputation as a supplier of temporary workers for the engineering and logistics sectors, Spectrum has experienced challenging trading conditions in recent times,” he said.

“Unfortunately, due to those conditions it is no longer viable to trade the business as a going concern and all 200 staff have been made redundant with immediate effect.”

There are hopes that some of Spectrum’s contractors, who were working for solvent firms, will be re-employed in their current roles, which are likely to still be viable.

A spokesman for KPMG said the matter was beyond the scope of the liquidator’s role but would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis by the businesses concerned.