Blaming the global slowdown, Britain's leading producer of traction batteries, CMP Batteries, looks set to close its Bolton battery factory, leading to 400 job losses. Better known to older generations as Chloride, the Bolton plant has been producing forklift batteries for over 30 years and its likely closure in the summer will come as a shock to its workforce.

Owned by the American giant, Exide Technologies, the company has begun a 90-day consultation period with staff about the site's future during which the company will explain to staff the reasons for the potential closure and how it will be carried out. Exide was careful to explain that the decision was "by no means a reflection of our employees' efforts or commitment to Exide," said Franz-Josef Dette, president, industrial energy Europe.

The parent company says the site will continue to be used as a distribution centre for Exide's European operations and a `number of administrative positions' will be maintained.

The traction battery market is an accurate bellwether of the forklift market's health, which in Britain did not begin to deteriorate until last Autumn. Another sign of strains emerging is the struggling IMHX show at the NEC next northern spring. Reports say that a significant number of large forklift companies have decided to pull out of the show. The organisers, however, remain confident that the number of exhibitors will remain at about the same level as the last show in 2007, with over 350 stands, and that visitor numbers will be similar at around 19,000.