A BRITISH bridge building company with factories in the Forest and Wye Valley has been taken over by a company based in the American state of New Jersey but claims it intends that the workforce ‘will remain as it currently is.’

Mabey Bridge has operated a factory in Lydney since the 1980s, building modular bridges, but closed its Chepstow and Newhouse, sites in 2015.

It has been bought by Acrow Bridge, an American company that specialises in prefabricated modular steel bridges for permanent, temporary and emergency use.

Located on the Harbour industrial estate in Lydney, Mabey Bridge is a subsidiary of Mabey Holdings, Ltd, a fourth-generation family-owned global bridge and engineering services group. Both firms will continue to operate under their own brands.

Juliette Stacey, Group CEO of Mabey Holdings, Ltd, said: “This move comes after negotiations between the two companies over the past several months.

“Due to our admiration for the strength of competition with Acrow over the years, we believe this is the best solution in strengthening the future of both businesses.”

Acrow’s CEO Bill said: “One intention is that the workforce will remain as it currently is.

“A second intention is to work with the current team members to grow and expand the business over the initial 18 months, which may very well result in a need to hire additional workers.”

Financial terms of the deal have not being disclosed.

More information on both firms can be found at www.acrow.com and www.mabeybridge.com