The Limerick building supply company, Heiton Buckley, has closed its doors as owner Grafton 'pulls the plug'.

The company located on the Dock Road ceased operating after 40 years of trading although their Heiton Buckley store located on the Ballysimon Road remains unaffected by this closure and will trade as normal.

Eight jobs at the company have been lost as a result of this closure. In the build up to the closure shorter working hours and working days in lieu were carried out to try and save it this was not to be enough for Grafton.

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It is believed that the downturn in the current economic climate that has seriously affected the construction industry is to blame.

However, last October, the company's owners, the Grafton Group, reported an improvement in its third quarter turnover year-on-year as profit at its UK merchanting units picked up.

The company, which offset a 26% fall in full-year revenue last year by cutting over 10% of its workforce, posted third quarter turnover at 546m euros (£462.4m) from 522m euros in the same period last year.

Turnover at Grafton's British merchanting business - where it also owns and operate Buildbase builders' yards and bathroom and heating supplier Plumbase rose 6%, compared with 5% at the end of June.

Just a few weeks ago, in January 2011, Grafton also moved to acquire 10 of Travis Perkins' plumbing and heating branches in England and Wales.

(BMcC/GK)