A LOSS-MAKING chemical firm was shut yesterday as part of an overhaul of an animal drugs company’s business.

The eight employees at Travik Chemicals, based in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, were made redundant following yesterday’s decision to close the business.

The closure of the firm, on Aycliffe Industrial Park, follows an overhaul of its North Yorkshire-based parent company Animalcare Group, which will see it focus on its core business of veterinary medicine, which accounts for 80 per cent of its profits.

Following a review of its business, last month, the group sold its subsiduaries Ritchey, based in Masham, North Yorkshire, and Fearing International, of Northampton, to Tru- Test UK in a £3.25m deal.

Ritchey and Fearing focus on supplying livestock identification and welfare products to agricultural retailers and farmers. During the past year Travik, which makes cleaning products for a diverse range of industries, including automotive firms, agricultural, rail firms and catering, had lost important contracts in the automotive and marine sectors and, as a result, the business was making losses without any signs of recovery.

It came as Animalcare, based in Masham, reported underlying profit before tax up 50.2 per cent to £3.02m in the year to June 30.

A spokesman said: “The firm is focusing on the veterinary medicine side of the business.

“Travik is a very different business and is not in the veterinary sphere. It wasn’t profitable and there were very little signs of recovery.

The staff have been told this morning.

“The group is disappointed that the division was not profitable and not showing signs of recovery.

“We will do all we can in the redundancy process to aid these eight members of staff.”

In the company’s annual results, released yesterday, Animalcare’s chairman James Lambert said: “It was felt by the board that a better use of shareholders’ funds would be to invest all our available resources in speeding up the growth of our veterinary medicines business in the companion animal market in the UK and other major European markets which are exhibiting long-term growth.”

Tru-Test UK is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tru-Test, a New Zealand-based agricultural technology company.

It has given assurances that all 59 jobs in Masham and the 14 in Northampton are safe.

Animalcare’s veterinary medicine business supplies medicines, animal identification microchips and other professional goods and services to veterinary practices in the UK and Europe.