Last updated at 16:47, Thursday, 13 September 2012

BOSSES of a firm left in the dark by a pre-planned power cut have revealed the blunder could have cost them up to £30,000.

Seven production lines at Lindal based candle company, Wax Lyrical, ground to a halt after power was cut off on Tuesday costing them between £20,000 to £30,000 while engineers carried out maintenance work in the village.

Bosses have been left fuming after Electricity North West failed to contact the firm – especially as they pay them around £100,000 per year in electricity bills.

The factory’s 80 workers were sent home on full pay just after the 9.30am blackout and the company is still counting the cost.

A spokeswoman for Wax Lyrical said: “No warning was given, although it was subsequently claimed a letter had been sent.

“Later queries with neighbours revealed that some had received an A4 flyer, but certainly not all of them.

“It is not acceptable to assume that a flyer has reached a critical employer.

“We had seven production lines stopped yesterday morning.

“Waste is high as the stoppage was unplanned and work in progress cannot be recovered and 80 staff had to be sent home on full pay.

“This is our busiest time of year as we produce and ship stock to major retailers around the world for the approaching Christmas period.”

Mike Armstead, chief executive at the firm, added: “I believe firmly that our £100,000 per annum electricity spend warrants a more personal approach to a disruption of service.”

A spokeswoman for Electricity North West said: “There was a planned outage yesterday affecting Lindal, Cumbria, due to essential maintenance work.

“We sent notification leaflets to all affected residents and businesses in the area informing customers of the planned work.

“Although we sent notification to Wax Lyrical’s address, it appears to have been addressed to the previous occupiers.

“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and we are visiting the company to discuss the matter with them directly.”

First published at 16:08, Thursday, 13 September 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk