300 East Mids engineering jobs under threat

Some 300 jobs are under threat at a Lincolnshire engineering company after it said it was shutting one of its Stamford sites.

Cummins Generator Technologies plans to close its plant in Barnack Road but intends to create a technical centre of excellence at its site in Ryhall Road in the town.

Cummins currently employs 500 people in the town, but says the new centre will safeguard 150 jobs.

A statement from the company said: “Despite investment and efforts to improve productivity, the Barnack Road facility in Stamford remains uncompetitive and the plan is to close the facility in the next 12 months.

“However, Cummins is committed to maintaining a presence in Stamford and to providing high quality employment in the town.

“As such, it plans to invest in a new technical centre of excellence at its Ryhall Road facility, which is expected to secure long term jobs for approximately 150 people.”

A spokesperson added: “This was a difficult decision for us to make.

“We recognise the impact that closing our Barnack Road facility will have, but despite extensive efforts we have sadly not be able to secure a sustainable future for the site.

“By undertaking this reorganisation we will be able to improve productivity, deliver greater value for our customers and ensure that our manufacturing operations remain sustainable.

“We remain committed to Stamford and believe our new centre of excellence will allow us to establish a deeper technical presence now, and for the long-term.

“We will be actively working to support our employees and the community during the transition.”

Unite regional officer Scott Lennon said: “Today’s announcement is a massive blow to the Lincolnshire economy and is terrible news for the workers, whose jobs are under threat, and their families.

“The company, which makes generators for power stations, appears to be blaming the state of the UK economy and Brexit for this decision. There are also proposals to move some production to Romania.

“However, when we meet the management on Monday (9 October), we will be pressing hard for the rationale behind the business case for the closure of the Barnack Road site within the next 12 months.

“We are entering the 45 day consultation period and our goal is to safeguard the employment of our members to the maximum extent and investigate the plans to move 150 people to a centre of excellence in Ryhall Road in the town.

“This still leaves some 300 workers rightly concerned about their future.

“Cummins is a profitable company and we will be exploring opportunities for redeployment to the company’s sites at Daventry and Peterborough.

“Unite takes the loss of skilled manufacturing jobs in the UK very seriously and we will be working very hard to ensure that as many jobs as possible are retained in Stamford. We will leave no stone unturned to this end.”

Close