Staff cut 21 days after plant opens

Feb 27 2009 by Graeme King, The Journal

LIGHTING company Thorn is to cut up to 85 jobs at the £28m County Durham factory it opened this month.

The Austrian-owned company held an opening ceremony for its factory and training academy in Spennymoor on February 5.

But already Thorn says it is obliged to make redundancies after suffering short-term drops in orders. The company says it is seeking up to 85 job losses from its 700 employees there.

The factory has two main arms to its business, supplying light fittings to wholesalers and project work including such high profile projects as Wembley Stadium and Terminal Five at Heathrow Airport.

The investment at Green Lane Industrial Estate by Thorn’s parent company Zumtobel was said to be the biggest it had ever made.

Thorn says job losses will fall mainly among administration workers, with only about 20 shop floor cuts.

Public relations manager Hugh King said: “Sales projections are down, so unfortunately we have had to act. The proposal may result in up to 85 redundancies.

“However, the long-term situation is particularly strong. We have a lease agreement for over 20 years and we have invested in new machines.”

Brian Coll, of the Unite union, said: “There has been a downturn in the market, but Thorn say there is a future for this plant going forward. We will be trying to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies. There will be a month’s consultation to March 27th, and they want the last redundancy to be complete by April 27th.”