Buyer to halve factory workforce

Apr 8 2009 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

HALF the workforce at a North East CCTV company face the axe after its takeover by German multinational Bosch.

The integration of Cramlington’s Derwent Systems into Bosch has been completed this week after last year’s buyout.

But as part of a restructuring Bosch says it intends to make 24 of the 48 workers redundant.

A Bosch spokesman said: “The decision to make redundancies comes as part of the business restructure following the acquisition of Derwent Systems Limited by the Bosch Group in 2008.

“It is a necessary step to align the company’s structure with that of the Bosch Group, improve the company’s competitiveness and during the current economic situation, this will allow Derwent Systems to position itself for further business growth.

“The company will now enter into a consultation period with those employees that are affected by this announcement. At this time, no further details are available.”

Derwent Systems has been at Cramlington since 1995 and is a market leader in the manufacture of infra-red lighting for CCTV systems.