Duco hit by explosion - none hurt

ERJ staff report (DS)

Slough, UK -- Duco International, which makes and distributes printing blankets from rubber, was hit by an explosion yesterday at its factory in Slough, UK. No-one was seriously hurt. A joint investigation into the cause of the blast is being carried out by the police and fire services, but the circumstances are not thought to be suspicious.

A spokeswoman for the company said the Slough factory has the complete production process for printing blankets, and it is not operating while the cause of the blast is being investigated. In the short term, she said, it is likely that some or all production would be temporarily moved to the company's other factory in Swindon, but it is not clear if that plant can make all the products made at Slough.

She said it is too early to make any comment on the likely cause of the blast. The first step is to assess the damage and set up a plan to recover from the blast. The Slough plant employs about 80.

In addition to the Duco brand of offset printing blankets, Duco also distributes and services Cow and Dunlop brands of printing blankets. Duco's complete product range offers choices for virtually every printing application: sheetfed, web, newsprint and specialty printing.

The company was bought by Day International, based in Dayton, Ohio, in October 2006.