1809: The Fife-based company is founded by Robert Tullis. It is praised for its working conditions less than 40 years later after a report into the employment of young people.

1979: David Russell expresses his concerns about energy shortages and suggests Tullis Russell must save coal. He devises a method of continuous working to avoid closing down at weekends and saves 70 tonnes of coal. Meanwhile the company's Manchester warehouse opened at Trafford Park.

1999: The company purchases a facility from South Korean company Kwang Duck.

2009: The firm successfully negotiates a scheme with RWE Npower, which builds a biomass plant at its Markinch site. It initially reduces annual energy costs by 50%.

2010: Tullis Russell Asia is launched.

2011: Substantial damage worth £1m is caused to the paper mill in a series of suspicious fires which last almost 24 hours. At the height of the incident, 40 firefighters were battle the flames. A 31-year-old man is jailed for 42 months after pleading guilty to wilful fire-raising.

March 31, 2014: It emerges the company had sold 126,000 tonnes of paper, recording a turnover of £124.6m but suffering a pre-tax loss of £3.4m.

April 27, 2015: The firm takes on administrators KPGM and 325 employees are made redundant with immediate effect. The company is legally obliged to provide at least 45 days' notice. Another 149 people are retained to complete existing orders.

A statement from administrators blames a change in the market for the company's decline. The paper mill incurred cumulative losses of £18.5m between 2010 to 2015.

Chief executive Chris Parr says it is "a terribly sad day for employees and their families, the local community and everyone else associated with the business and its proud 206 year history".

April 28, 2015: The Scottish Government pledges £6m to a task force to support the 500 staff who go on to lose their jobs. Deputy First Minister John Swinney says the funds are to "provide additional support for skills development, training and support for local businesses."

The task force, formed in partnership with Fife council, meets for the first time before the end of the month to assess legal advice and immediate employment opportunities for workers that had been dropped. It is hoped a buyer for the plant will be found.

Unite regional officer Dougie Maguire says the "shock announcement" is "heartbreaking" for workers and says company directors have "serious questions to answer".

It emerges Renfrewshire-based company PG Paper could be interested in buying the company.

May 2015: Redundant staff are invited to meet potential employers at an event organised by Partnership Action for Continuing Employment.

Two weeks later it is confirmed the plant will close as no buyers have come forward. The company tried to sell the business to 64 parties worldwide before going into administration.

July 2015: Details of the £6m funding package to combat job losses is decided on by the task force to support economic growth and job creation across Glenrothes and central Fife. It is revealed that of the 403 employees made redundant at Tullis Russell, 143 had since secured employment.

January 2016: The company is fined £50,000 over a runaway four-tonne roll of paper crushing an employee against a wall, leaving him with serious pelvic injuries. With the millions already owed to creditors and staff, it is likely the worker will only see a fraction of the payout.

April 2016: An employment tribunal in Dundee awards eight weeks' salary to each of the sacked paper mill workers in compensation, totalling £1.5m.

Thomsons Solicitors represents the workers, the same legal team that took on and defeated Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley after he dumped 50 Ayrshire workers in 2015 with 15 minutes' notice.

A senior employment lawyer at Thomsons says the taxpayer has picked up the tab because "company directors have played fast and loose with the rules".

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