Chair makers opt for shorter week

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Workers take pay cut

Staff at the Lancashire furniture company H J Berry, which claims to be Britain's oldest chair-making company, have agreed to work a three day week.

The average length of service at the Chipping-based company is more than 20 years and it has been 60 years since anyone was forced to leave.

The workers have said the survival of the historic company is more important than their pay packets.

Most of its 80-strong workforce live within a few miles of the village.

The company specialises in using native, mainly locally-grown, timber for its chairs and has won numerous awards for its environmentally friendly approach.

Jim White, furniture maker, said: "Some of these lads have taken years to learn these skills, some have been handed down by their fathers, and we definitely don't want to lose anyone of that quality with the products that we produce."

John Woodruffe, managing director, said staff would prefer to lose one-and-a-half days' work rather than face redundancy.