ALMOST 200 jobs at a beleaguered East Lancashire carpet firm have been saved after three of its four divisions were sold.

But union bosses still fear for a number of jobs at Gaskell Plc, in Clayton-le-Moors and Rishton, especially as the firm which has taken over its retail division intends to move it to the Midlands.

The struggling business has been in administration for two weeks after formally requesting suspension from the London Stock Exchange.

Adminstrators Kroll said 196 jobs at Gaskell's two East Lancashire sites had been safeguarded.

The Rishton-based contracts division, which formed the bulk of the group's turnover and employs 145, has been sold to a management team, led by chief executive Gerry Wheeler.

The deal for the new company, called Gaskell Limited, was financed by private investment from venture capitalists.

The underlay division based at Clayton Business Park has been acquired by Bedfordshire-based Condor Combifloor Limited, while the retail division, also in Rishton, has been sold to a subsidiary of Birmingham-based Headlam Group plc. A buyer remains to be found for the company's logistics division, based in Kidderminster.

A Gaskell Limited statement said: "The management buyout has secured the future of 145 jobs. Employees of the new business will retain their existing terms and conditions of employment. Further detailed announcements will be made next week with regard to the prospects and long term aims and the future of the contract carpet business in Rishton."

Today the Headlam Group said it intended to move the retail division to Tamworth, near Birmingham, but the company's finance director Steve Wilson said they did not envisage job losses. He said the division was made up primarily of a sales team and given its mobile nature would be largely unaffected by the move.

Condor Combifloor could not be contacted.

A spokesman for the Transport and General Workers Union, which represents workers at Gaskell, said: "These are still worrying times for the workforce involved. Saving the jobs is good news but any future job losses as a result of this sale will be a real blow.

"I understand the union will be seeking early meetings with all of the new owners."

Gaskell had a turnover of £26million last year and is a leading supplier of premium branded floor coverings, including fibre bonded, tufted and Axminster carpets. It is also a leading supplier to other retailers within the industry.

The company came close to going out of business in 2003 before it sold its carpet tiles division and its Kidderminster factory for a total of £21million to clear mounting debts.

In December 2003, it announced cost-cutting measures including 80 job losses at the company's Rishton factory. Its sales in 2003 were £29.4million compared to £55.6million in 2002.

The company has already warned its shareholders they are likely to be left with nothing.

At its peak in the mid 1990s Gaskell, which was once the country's third largest carpet manufacturer, employed around 500 people and profits were increasing year on year.

Gaskell was formed early last century and became a public limited company in 1948.