HUNDREDS of jobs have been saved after an industrial firm stepped in to save one of Witham’s biggest employers.

It has been announced today that Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty House Group has acquired automotive component manufacturer Amtek UK.

The company’s 15,000sqm Witham site, on the Freebournes Industrial Estate, employs 260 people, all of whom are now likely to keep their jobs.

Amtek’s, whose products go directly to leading vehicle manufacturers in the UK and the EU, were in administration before Liberty House Group acquired the company from administrators PwC.

Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of the Liberty House Group, said: “Despite current challenges, this operation is a valuable asset and a vital part of the UK and EU automotive supply chain.

“We are very pleased to use our resources and extensive experience in the automotive sector to rescue this enterprise and enable it to recover and reach its true potential.

“We greatly value the specialist skills of the workforce and we will be working closely with them and with key customers to get the business back on a sound footing.”

The business will in future be known as Liberty Aluminium Technologies, and forms part of Liberty’s growing network of metal manufacture and engineering businesses.

Amtek also has sites in Kidderminster and Coventry and employs 550 people in total.

Liberty House Group is an international business specialising in metals trading and the manufacture and distribution of steel, aluminium and advanced engineering products.