Plans have been announced to close plant hire firm Hewden's head office in Lanarkshire with the loss of 27 posts in the latest apparent downgrading of what used to be one of Scotland's grandest corporate names.

Plans have been announced to close plant hire firm Hewden's head office in Lanarkshire with the loss of 27 posts in the latest apparent downgrading of what used to be one of Scotland's grandest corporate names.

The Canadian firm Finning, which also owns the Caterpillar earth mover business, said it would close the base at Uddingston at which 80 staff work in areas like accounting to centralise support operations for its UK business in Cannock, Staffordshire.

While "the majority" of the Uddingston workforce would be able to transfer to Cannock, a maximum of 27 posts would not be subject to the transfer.

Asked whether the holders of these posts would be made redundant, Doug Sprout, finance director of Finning UK, said: "That's a possibility for sure."

Finning has started a 30-day consultation period with staff.

Sprout said Finning would Continued from Page 32 continue to operate 15 Hewden branded plant hire depots in Scotland. The company will spend £2m upgrading Hewden depots in Aberdeen and Dundee.

However, the closure of Uddingston is the latest stage in a process in which a formerly formidable Scottish-headquartered business has become a cog in a Canadian corporation.

When Hewden Stuart said it was selling out to Finning International for £322m in November, observers said the sale was a blow to the Scottish economy and lamented that another important headquarters function would be lost.

Claiming to be Europe's biggest plant hire company, Hewden employed 4300 staff in the UK - about 1000 of them in Scotland.

Finning said it wanted to retain Hewden's brand and keep the business intact. However, soon after the deal, trading was hit by intense competition and overcapacity in Europe.

After moving operational control to England, in 2006 Finning UK launched a strategic review, following which it decided to concentrate on hiring out heavier plant.

Last June, the company raised £115m by selling the tool hire operations of Hewden Stuart, which then employed 120 at the base at Uddingston. In January, Finning sold Hewden's hoists business to HTC Plant for an undisclosed sum.

Following the closure of the Uddingston office, Sprout said Hewden would have 350 employees in Scotland.