Castings firm furloughs staff after losing key contract

Castings firm Chamberlin says it has furloughed all  staff in its machining shop after losing its biggest customer to a competitor.

Chamberlin said the client, which represented some 75% its machine shop’s output, has informed the company of an earlier transition to the next product evolution which has been awarded to another supplier.

A statement from Chamberlin said: “Ongoing customer orders are likely to be a fraction of the original contract. The Company will be pursuing a claim relating to the earlier than planned transition and in the meantime all staff in the machine shop have been furloughed.

“The company is taking further mitigating actions to reduce costs during the machine shop temporary shut down, although the financial impact cannot yet be determined.

“The company continues to explore additional manufacturing opportunities for the machining facility with existing Tier 1 customers and prospective new customers.”