Recession claimsanother business in city

Motorsport Wheels, which is based in Knockmore Industrial Estate, will close its doors at the end of February, leaving the three members of staff there unemployed.

The UK distributor of alloy wheels opened its distribution warehouse in Lisburn in 2008 having outgrown its previous Belfast location where it had traded for over 10 years.

A once very successful company, both in Belfast and Lisburn, they have seen demand plummet as the economy faltered.

Drew Gregg, Manager for Ireland, who sent a letter to the Motorsport Wheels customers, blamed the current economic climate for the company’s closure.

“We operate in the ‘luxury accessory’ side of the motor trade and unfortunately in this economic climate people are rightly more concerned about keeping the roof over their heads and food on the table than purchasing a new set of alloy wheels for their car.”

He continued: “We were going well until 2008 until the recession came along. We moved that year because we had outgrown our premises in Belfast, but then the economy changed. Hindsight is a great thing.

“It is sad to see closure resulting in losing good staff who have been with us for years but it is a sign of the times.

“Nobody likes to pay off staff, especially since one has been here for ten years and one for four years. We did have five staff at one stage but have had to go down to three. The biggest problem is that 50% of our sales were in the south and the southern economy is in a mess right now. It is a small island and there are only so many alloy wheels you can sell.”

Motorsport Wheels have still a base in London which will remain open but have sold off their Leeds, Stockport and Glasgow branches and have closed another warehouse in Gloucester.

* Cash Converters in Railway Street has closed. A notice on the shutter said it had closed because it had reached the end of its lease of the premises.

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