Cooker factory to close
WORKERS today lost their battle to save a County Durham cooker factory employing 500 people.
Electrolux’s decision to close the site at Spennymoor comes two months after the Swedish appliances group warned it was considering the future of the loss-making operation.
Magnus Yngen, head of Electrolux major appliances Europe, said: “Closing a factory is always the last resort and is not something we strive to do.
“In this specific case, I would like to express my appreciation to the employees of the Spennymoor factory for submitting constructive ideas on improvements and potential cost savings. I do regret that despite the efforts made by our employees the cost gap is simply too large to bridge.”
He added: “Our competitors have to a large extent moved their production facilities to countries with a lower cost-base, which has resulted in increasing price pressure. This development in combination with a shift in consumer preferences, moving from free standing cookers to built-in cookers, has eroded the competitiveness of our Spennymoor factory.”
In June 2005, Electrolux invested £7m in a new line of cookers at Spennymoor.
But the company said earlier this year that intense worldwide competition had forced an urgent review of operations.
Meanwhile the Confederation of British Industry’s December industrial trends survey has said just 3% of manufacturers expect output growth next year – the lowest level for nearly two years.
But Liz Smith, assistant regional director at CBI North-East, said the outlook for the region’s manufacturing sector remained optimistic.
“The North-east has seen continued optimism in manufacturing over previous surveys this year, standing out as a star performer compared to other regions.
“It is perhaps not surprising that optimism has dipped given turmoil in the credit markets and a small number of high profile manufacturing closures in the region.”
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