‘A devastating blow’ – region reels after BAE cuts

THE region’s aerospace sector has been dealt a “devastating blow” by the 950 job losses announced by defence giant BAE Systems on Thursday.

Trade unions also warned it was the ‘beginng of the end’ for defence manufacturing in this country, while North West sector support group, the North West Aerospace Alliance said the situation is ‘”extremely serious'”.

Martin Wright, chief executive of the NWAA said the region – which is the largest for aerospace manufacturing in the UK – was paying a heavy price after the Government’s Strategic Defence and Security Review led to the axe falling on the Nimrod MRA4 refurbishment programme and also on Harrier jets.

Jobs at four BAE Systems plants in Lancashire and Greater Manchester are affected by yesterday’s cuts – the majority, more than 600 at Warton near Preston.

Pulling the plug on the Nimrod contract is expected to trigger the early closure of the Woodford site near Stockport, which had been due to close in 2012, but could now be shut nest year.

Mr Wright said: “The loss of these jobs in a region dependant on manufacture is extremely serious, and will be felt throughout the supply chain and into the economy of the region.

“Advanced engineering jobs are a prized asset, they create true wealth and are difficult to replace. This is high value engineering which adds to knowledge creation through R&D and manufacturing development.

“Defence is also major component of the high value exports of this country and any loss of the skills base will damage our future.

“The scrapping of Nimrod is in particular a blow to the industry given the fact that the manufacturing phase was advanced and the through-life service income streams would have been of significant value to BAE and the UK economy.”

Unions said the job cuts spelled the “beginning of the end” for UK military aircraft manufacuring.

Keith Hazelwood, national officer of the GMB union, said: “This is a devastating blow for UK manufacturing and the local communities. GMB will seek meetings with BAE Systems to see exactly where the axe is falling and what steps if any can be taken to mitigate these losses.”