150 axed as glass firm closes Durham factory
MORE than 150 workers at a North East factory were yesterday told by its German owners that the operation would shut and they would lose their jobs.
The multinational corporation Schott Industrial Glass has been reviewing the viability of the Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, site since February and last night said that the global recession and the closure of a number of major customers in the UK meant it was no longer profitable.
Michael Schuhmann, executive vice president of Schott Flat Glass, said: “Although the workforce has worked extremely hard with management to find a way forward for the operation, the achievements were unfortunately not enough to secure the viability of the plant, which will cease operations towards the end of 2009.”
The factory, which employed more than 300 staff just a few years ago, had been trying to cut costs since 2007.
Mr Schuhmann added: “Despite significant cost cutting measures over the past 18 months including numerous job reductions, the home appliance business in Newton Aycliffe has been generating significant losses.
"We deeply regret that this decision has had to be made. Due to the future perspectives in the UK market: further sales decline in the British home appliance market, smaller turnover level and no chance of recovering soon, continuing to manufacture in the UK would endanger the long term profitability of the Scott Flat Glass business as a whole.”
The company, which will now only have a UK presence at its Stafford sales office, said it had agreed a redundancy payment package with each of its 151 staff in Newton Aycliffe and was continuing talks with staff representatives over the phased closure of the plant.
Schott, which has 17,300 staff in 13 countries has grown to be one of the biggest in its field over the last 125 years and in 2007/8 posted sales worth nearly £2bn. The company, which makes products ranging from standard glass to customised products for ovens, earlier this month opened a factory in New Mexico, US, which will employ up to 350 workers making photo-voltaic glass.
The jobs loss is the latest in a series of big blows for County Durham’s manufacturing sector, including 160 jobs cut in December at Newton Aycliffe-based car parts supplier ThyssenKrupp Tallent.
It was one of several suppliers to Nissan which have suffered with the downturn in the global car market which led the Japanese car maker to cut 1,200 jobs at its Washington plant this year.
Alan Hall, regional director of manufacturers’ organisation EEF, said: “The manufacturing sector is still having a very tough time. Although there are signs of an upturn in the economy trading conditions are very hard in most sections of the sector and jobs are continuing to be lost.
“I don’t think that the sector is uneconomic as a whole and more politicians are realising the importance of manufacturing to the UK.”
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