TWO hundred engineering jobs in Burnley and Colne have been saved today after an eleventh-hour £21m buy-out from the troubled L. Gardner Group.

The man heading the rescue of the former Pendle Aeroform and Cleveland Guest factories is Steve Hollis a former Lancashire Evening Telegraph businessman of the year.

Ironically, he won the award in the early 1990s for his role in a previous management buy-out of high-tech Cleveland Guest in Colne.

Mr Hollis is the chief executive behind the new management team that has bought Gardner Aerospace in a £21.5 million deal, which includes the two East Lancashire operations.

It was purchased from the Midlands-based Gardner Group which was put into receivership earlier this week, just days after announcing losses of more than £7 million.

Gardner Aerospace is one of the UK's largest aerospace machining groups. It produces a wide range of machined components for airframes and aircraft engines; customers include Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, Airbus and GKN. The business, headquartered in Nuneaton, employs 1000 people at eleven sites in England, Wales and also Poland.

Mr Hollis said the management buy-out was good news for both Gardner Aerospace and its employees. "Without the opportunity, we may have faced the very real possibility of closure, and a consequent loss of 1,000 jobs," he said.

The Gardner group announced in January that it was closing its automotive division and selling off its aerospace business after being faced with crippling debts.

Mr Hollis resigned as chief executive of the group to head up the buy-out team which concluded the deal with receivers KPMG within 24 hours of their appointment.