250 jobs to go at manufacturer as JLR contract ends

INDUSTRIAL group GKN is cutting 40% of its workforce in Telford after failing to fill the gap left by a Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) contract that had come to an end.
251 jobs are being lost, which the union Unite has described as a “body blow” to the local economy.
It said the loss of these jobs had been on the cards since last December, as the contracts for building the Defender chassis platforms for came to an end, but the union said it was disappointed that GKN had not secured more contracts to keep the highly-skilled workforce in jobs. 
230 workers will leave next month when the JLR contract ends, while there will be a further 21 redundancies at Telford when the hybrid power project for buses is absorbed into GKN Driveline in Birmingham.

GKN Wheels has its origins in Telford in 1910 when, as Joseph Sankey, it manufactured the world’s first steel wheel.

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