A UK engineering company has collapsed into administration with all staff being made redundant. The firm was founded 45 years but administrators have now been appointed following recent struggles.

Galino Limited, which was founded in Coatbridge in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, in 1981, entered administration on Tuesday, July 7. It has since appointed David McGinness and Judith Howson, of AAB Business & Tax Advisory, as joint administrators. They have confirmed that all 12 staff members have lost their jobs with some set to help the administrators for a “short period of time”.

As reported by The Herald, Mr McGinness said: “Upon appointment, the business ceased to trade and, unfortunately, all 12 staff were made redundant.

“A small number of former employees will be assisting the Joint Administrators in their duties for a short period of time.

“The joint administrators are engaged with the relevant agencies to co-ordinate supporting the employees through the difficult process.”

A spokesperson for AAB Business & Tax Advisory added: “Creditors, employees, customers and other affected parties will be contacted directly with information relevant to them.”

Galino specialised in industrial fastening tools, custom fasteners, and machine screw products. Its main customers were companies across the construction, automotive, furniture and packaging industries.

In a description of itself, the business said: “Not only do we carry a vast range of fasteners, but the corresponding pneumatic and hand tools. With a limitless range of products and fastening supplies, Galino has been dedicated to providing its customers in and around the UK and Ireland with unmatched service, selection and advice.

“Our services extend to a diverse range of trades and industries, whether you work in: construction, furniture & upholstery, doors & windows, automotive, flooring, whisky packaging, pallet & crate making printing & tagging and many more.”

A major car firm is set to slash 100,000 jobs in a matter of months following reports it would cut 50,000. The doubling of jobs to be scrapped by Volkswagen comes as the company suffered a steep decline in profits over the course of 2025.

Chief executive Oliver Blume confirmed that not only would there be 100,000 job losses but that the Volkswagen Group’s operating cost is 20% higher compared to rival businesses. Reducing its outgoings even further after the job cuts is expected.

He said: “We are currently assessing across all brands, companies and regions how many adjustments are actually necessary and feasible. We need to become more efficient, more robust and simpler. We must reduce our costs.”

Blume added that the effect this would have on employees is understood by the board. He said: “I can fully understand how deeply the current situation affects people within the company, as well as everyone in its immediate circle. I have spent my entire professional life with the group.”

In 2023, the company made an operating profit of €22.6bn ($25.8bn, £19.3bn). This dropped to €19.1bn in 2024, and then to just €8.9bn last year. Sales are down in major markets including China and the United States, BBC News reported, with tariffs in the US and Chinese brand dominance cited as reasons for this decline.

In late 2024 VW reached an agreement with the German trade union IG Metall to cut 35,000 jobs at its namesake brand by 2030, in a “socially responsible manner”. Another 15,000 jobs to go at its other brands was also confirmed at the time.

Those plans appear to have been amplified by VW executives who confirmed 100,000 job losses globally.

Widespread protests were mounted earlier this week ahead of a VW supervisory board meeting which included company managers and labour representatives.

Industry analysts suggest that the group had publicised the number of 100,000 job cuts as a negotiating tactic and believe the actual job loss figure will be somewhat lower than this.

Blume added that “smart solutions are always better than closing a plant” as the company looks to avoid the full closure of four factories earmarked for closure. The four factories include Emden, Hanover, Zwickau, and the Audi plant Neckarsulm.

A UK haulage firm faces potential closure after a petition to wind up the business was filed, following 16 years of operation. The London Gazette revealed that a petition to wind up Ian Robinson Transport Limited had been submitted, with the details published in the early hours of July 10.

There is no information on what the news will mean for job cuts in the sector at this early stage. Filing a petition to wind up a company is usually a legal application to the court seeking the liquidation of an insolvent company.

Ian Robinson started his haulage company back in 2010 with just one truck, and it now boasts up to 20 vehicles.

Its fleet is equipped with a range of models, including everything from 44-tonne trucks to flat-bed and box trailers. Ian Robinson Transport Limited describes itself as a general haulage company, but the firm does specialise in the transportation of hazardous waste materials.

The firm explained that its drivers are ADR trained and provided with “all the relevant equipment to carry out these jobs”. The company has two haulage yards, with their main base located in Bamber Bridge and a secondary yard in St Helens.

Ian Robinson Transport Limited has previously struggled with rising petrol and diesel costs, with the business previously implementing a “fuel surcharge”.

The additional fee was added to invoices from March 14, 2022, with their website suggesting that customers paid 5% more for services in early 2025.

The business explained that fuel was “one of [the] biggest overheads over which we have no direct control.”

Express.co.uk has contacted Ian Robinson Transport Limited for comment.

German car giant Volkswagen is planning a major restructure that could see up to 100,000 jobs axed globally in the coming years. Company executives are planning to reduce the workforce in a bid to drive efficiencies in a bid to save up to £9.5billion by 2030, according to local media.

The proposals will involve putting four car plants in Germany under review before ending production, Manager Magazin reported. The move would mark a significant milestone for the 89-year-old Wolfsburg-based car manufacturer, which owns a range of well known brands including Audi, Bentley, Skoda and Seat. It would also mean cost-cutting on a much greater scale than previously outlined, having said that 50,000 jobs were due to be cut by 2030 across the group in Germany.

At the time, chief executive Oliver Blume told shareholders that the company was on track to make savings of more than six billion euro (£5.2 billion) by 2030.

He has said that some 28,000 agreements for staff to leave by 2030 had already been made, which relates to those at the Germany headquarters,

“The transformation of the entire company is continuing to pick up speed,” the boss had said. With these programmes we are methodically addressing all cost categories across all brands.”

He also said the group was working to “address the reduction of overcapacities in our production network” by bringing down global targets from 12 million vehicles to nine million.

Matthias Schmidt, of Schmidt Automotive Research, said: “The VW Group has suffered from years of neglect in readjusting workforce numbers due to the stranglehold the regional government and trade unions have on the company. The market reality is hitting the German giant hardest.”

It comes after reporting that vehicle deliveries had dropped by 10% in the US and 8% in China in 2025.

It said this was because of “challenging market conditions” including tariffs on US imports and increased competition in China where big electric carmakers like BYD have been taking huge shares of the market.

Despite this, deliveries rose by 4.5% in Europe to almost four million vehicles.

Volkswagen reportedly has around 625,000 staff around the world, meaning its job-cutting plans would shed about 16% of the total workforce if they went ahead.

Reports said that details of the new plan were set to be presented to the company’s supervisory board on July 9.

A spokesperson for Volkswagen said the firm is not commenting on the speculation.

Radley has been bought out of administration from the owners of Poundland in a deal which leaves the retailer’s shops at risk of closure. Gordon Brothers, which also owns LK Bennett, purchased the Radley brand, intellectual property and some assets in a pre-pack administration deal.

However, the takeover does not include Radley’s retail operations, which include 21 stores across the UK. It confirmed that 42 jobs would also be lost “with immediate effect”, as a result. It came after Radley hired administrators from FTI on Tuesday, after being hit by a slump in consumer demand and higher costs.

Handbag specialist Radley was founded by Australian designer Lowell Harder in London in the 1980s, starting from a stall in Camden Market.

Previous owner Freshstream, a private equity company, purchased the business in 2016 but reportedly put it up for sale earlier this year amid pressure on its finances.

In a statement, FTI said: “The administration team will guide and support affected team members over the coming weeks through the redundancy claims process.

“The administration appointments follow a sustained period of challenging economic conditions for the retail environment, including declining customer demand and increasing operating costs, all of which have had a negative impact on trading.”

It is the latest rescue deal from Gordon Brothers, which purchased Poundland for £1 last year before overseeing significant store closures to help drive the brand’s turnaround.

A discount furniture retailer, established in 1967, has entered administration, putting nearly 1,200 jobs at risk. The Original Factory Shop, which sells products including clothing and homeware, appointed administrators from Interpath Advisory last month.

The retailer operates 137 shops offering clothing, homewares, beauty products, toys, and seasonal items. While all physical stores will continue trading as a going concern during the assessment of options. The retailer has now shut down its online operations as its future remains up in the air.

Interpath highlighted that high cost inflation, weak consumer confidence, and logistical issues with a third-party warehouse significantly affected sales. 

The Original Factory Shop’s troubles have been driven by challenging trading conditions, linked to high cost inflation, fragile consumer confidence and rising labour costs caused by government policies, according to administrators. 

Problems were then said to have been exacerbated by issues linked to its third-party warehouse and logistics operator, weakening sales further.

Rick Harrison, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator, said: “The Original Factory Shop has long-been a cornerstone of local high streets up and down the country.

“Unfortunately, however, trading challenges have impacted the business such that the company had to be placed into administration.

“Over the coming weeks, we will be working closely with TOFS dedicated team of employees as we endeavour to operate all stores as a going concern while we assess options for the business.”

Administrators Interpath said the chain’s 40 stores across the UK and seven concessions in Ireland will continue to trade while they look at options for the firm but its website will shut.

They said 109 redundancies are being made across the firm’s head office in Glasgow and its warehouse and distribution centre in Bellshill, Lanarkshire.

Interpath confirmed that Quiz concessions in New Look and Matalan stores in the UK are not included in the administration and remain unaffected.

Quiz employs 565 workers in total.

A discount furniture retailer, established in 1967, has entered administration, putting nearly 1,200 jobs at risk. The Original Factory Shop, which sells products including clothing and homeware, appointed administrators from Interpath Advisory last month.

The retailer operates 137 shops offering clothing, homewares, beauty products, toys, and seasonal items. While all physical stores will continue trading as a going concern during the assessment of options. The retailer has now shut down its online operations as its future remains up in the air.

Interpath highlighted that high cost inflation, weak consumer confidence, and logistical issues with a third-party warehouse significantly affected sales. 

The Original Factory Shop’s troubles have been driven by challenging trading conditions, linked to high cost inflation, fragile consumer confidence and rising labour costs caused by government policies, according to administrators. 

Problems were then said to have been exacerbated by issues linked to its third-party warehouse and logistics operator, weakening sales further.

Rick Harrison, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator, said: “The Original Factory Shop has long-been a cornerstone of local high streets up and down the country.

“Unfortunately, however, trading challenges have impacted the business such that the company had to be placed into administration.

“Over the coming weeks, we will be working closely with TOFS dedicated team of employees as we endeavour to operate all stores as a going concern while we assess options for the business.”

Administrators Interpath said the chain’s 40 stores across the UK and seven concessions in Ireland will continue to trade while they look at options for the firm but its website will shut.

They said 109 redundancies are being made across the firm’s head office in Glasgow and its warehouse and distribution centre in Bellshill, Lanarkshire.

Interpath confirmed that Quiz concessions in New Look and Matalan stores in the UK are not included in the administration and remain unaffected.

Quiz employs 565 workers in total.

Poundland has announced that its restructuring programme which saw almost 150 stores close and helped it avoid plunging into administration is complete, but it says there’s still “much to do”. The major shake up was set in motion in June after the struggling high street band was bought by American investment firm Gordon Brothers from previous owners Pepco following a slump in sales.

In a bid to revive the chain’s fortunes, Poundland secured High Court approval last August for the plan which involved cutting its estate down from 800 to 651 stores, and reducing its work force from 14,200 to around 12,000 at the end of 2025, representing approximately 2,200 job losses. In a statement, Poundland has now said the wave of closures has come to an end. The company said: “Any future closures will be a consequence of standard business-as-usual lease events expected at a retailer with a large store network.”

However, Poundland emphasised that the work to turnaround their finances isn’t over. Christmas trading figures showed like-for-like underlying sales dropping 2.9% in the quarter to December 28 after the chain dropped prices.

However, comparable store sales by volume saw a 2% increase. Poundland managing director Barry Williams said: “While there’s been significant progress as we refocus and re-energise the business with lower prices and a sharper offer, we know we still have much to do.

He added that the chain’s focus on their costs has, “without doubt, given us a platform for future growth, but no sustainable turnaround can be based on cost management alone”.

“That’s why our focus in 2026 will be on delivering the kind of ranges and price simplicity our customers want right across the store – in clothing, homewares as well as our core grocery aisles,” he added.

Mr Williams said their customers had told them “loud and clear they want a simpler, more focused Poundland that keeps its promise of amazing value”.

“We have clear indications from the work we’ve already done that we’re on the right track.”

In a statement last year prior to the formal approval of the closures, Mr Williams said: “It’s sincerely regrettable that this plan includes the closure of stores and distribution centres, but it’s necessary if we’re to achieve our goal of securing the future of thousands of jobs and hundreds of stores.