Dozens of workers laid off after 77-year-old Lurgan firm Classic Mineral Water goes into administration
A 77-year-old Lurgan firm, Classic Mineral Water, has gone into administration with the loss of dozens of jobs
Classic Mineral Water is deemed as Ireland’s oldest water bottling company and was set up by the late James McKee in 1948. It sold soft drinks directly to people’s home with these products made from water from the town wells.
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It is understood workers at the firm were told on Monday morning that the company was going into administrations.
At one stage Classic Mineral Water employed upwards of 65 people.
Last year Classic Mineral Water made a £3.4m investment to develop a third bottling line that will enable the production of isotonic beverages for the private label market for the first time on the island of Ireland.
In a statement late this afternoon, the firm said it had to stop production due to water contamination by a third party and this has forced the directors to enter into the insolvency administration process.
The current directors are listed as Liam Duffy and Gerard Watters.
One worker voiced shock after being made redundant following decades with the firm. “It’s been part of the fabric of the town for decades. No way did I see this coming. A lot of people are being laid off now at the mouth of Christmas,” he said.
Another worker said: “Half the town grew up with Classic Minerals. It’s a very sad day.”
A spokesperson for Classic Mineral Water said: “On August 8th 2024 as part of our continuous testing to ensure optimum standards, we discovered an issue in our water supply that had quality implications. We stopped production immediately to undertake a borewell cleaning programme to attempt to resolve the matter.
"We took our advice from a leading global Hydrologist Consulting firm on the corrective actions to be undertaken. Over the following 9 weeks we carried out these extensive works to allow production to recommence.
"As a result of carrying out all recommended actions we have now discovered that our water supply has been contaminated by external third-party sources.
"This contamination means that we are unable to resume production. The financial losses caused by this has forced the directors to enter an insolvency administration process.
"No further statements will be made at this time.”