ONE of the country’s leading value-added manufacturers, Precision Woodworking Limited, is closing its doors after 27 years and putting its premises up for sale after failing to raise financing to allow the company to restructure, and its supplier of wood being unable to achieve FSC certification. “The plight of the workers is now our main concern as we assess how we can mitigate the effects of this closure,” said the company in a statement this week.
“Despite competing successfully with manufacturers all around the world and supplying top furniture retailers in the UK for the last 15 years, the company has been unable to raise capital to realise its new business model. Management and staff have put in a tremendous amount of hard work over the years and we now have developed a wood processing and manufacturing capability unrivalled anywhere in the Caribbean and Central America,” the company’s statement said.
In 2001, the company won the prestigious Ernst & Young Caribbean Entrepreneur of the Year Award for export achievements, “the only Guyanese company to do so.”
The statement said: “We are very disappointed that despite these unique skills, our track record and a very robust business plan, we have been unable to secure funding that will allow us to restructure, move forward and take advantage of the lucrative new markets and product areas we have identified.”
According to the company, it encountered problems a couple of years ago when its European customers introduced policy changes whereby all furniture and wooden products they purchased needed to carry Forestry Stewardship Council sustainability certification.
“At the time our timber suppliers assured us they were working toward certification and would be able to meet our needs. Although we converted our factory and achieved our own FSC status, our timber suppliers were unsuccessful. As a result, we lost our valued customers at a time that coincided with the global economic downturn, so it wasn’t easy to replace them,” the statement said.
The company said with no prospect of a reliable source of FSC timber from Guyana, “we realised we needed to diversify our product range and look for new markets.”
The release said in doing so, “we found an even better market on our doorstep here in the Caribbean for high quality timber housing, architectural joinery and furnishings, an area in which we have no credible competition from elsewhere in the region.”
The company also said it has well-established links with manufacturers in China for high quality stainless steel fittings, tempered glass and other non-wood products that complement their manufacturing. “This combination of manufacturing and trading was at the core of our new business model,” the company said.
“We made the decision to restructure the company to take full advantage of this market opportunity and it is something we have been working towards for the last 18 months,” the statement said.
It said during this time, “we have been developing new products, while simultaneously seeking the investment we require to make the necessary changes.”
According to the statement, the company has now arrived at a situation where it cannot move forward without funding “and accept we no longer have the financial means to realise our vision for the company.”
It said, “It is hoped that others will see the potential and take advantage of the unique residual skills and expertise we have acquired over the years, including the work we have recently done in identifying lucrative new markets and developing new products.”
Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle, Managing Director of Precision Woodworking Limited, Ronald Bulkan, said the company is optimistic that the assets will be sold since there have been expressions of interest. He said the workers have been given two weeks pay and will get full severance when the assets are sold.
According to Bulkan, the potential financiers of the company’s business plan expressed concern that the financial downturn in the US and globally and its effects may not be over and that this may negatively affect the investment, hence their reluctance to finance it. (Johann Earle)