Jobs lost as manufacturer moves production to Poland

Manufacturer Hesco Bastion is to shut its production and assembly facility in Leeds, resulting in 43 job losses.

The firm which was founded in 1989 by the late Jimi Heselden, is moving production to Poland and only retaining a small team in Leeds for sales and marketing.

The news comes after reports earlier this year that the firm – which was the name sake of the UK’s biggest base in Iraq, Camp Bastion, due to the use of firm’s Concertainer barrier system to build it – was considering a restructure as part of a “strategic review”. At the time it was understood potentially 35 jobs were at risk at Hesco.

Hesco which is now owned by global firm Praesidiad, was founded by Heselden after he was made redundant, starting out as a Leeds workshop before becoming a global business which at one point had a turnover of £120m.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Hesco said, “”We have regrettably decided that we have to close production and assembly at our Leeds site at the end of October.

“This is due to the significant variations and decline of orders at Hesco in recent years and brought into sharp focus by the Covid-19 crisis.

“The affected employees are being offered full support and training to help them secure alternative employment.”