Loss of 600 jobs confirmed

Thursday 12th October 2006, 10:42AM BST

CelesticaMore than 600 jobs have been axed at one of Telford’s biggest employers, company bosses confirmed today. Staff at Celestica, based at Castle Farm Campus, Priorslee, were told they would be made redundant during their shifts yesterday. 

The redundancy risk to the whole workforce – 340 permanent staff at the site and a further 325 agency workers – was announced in the summer after bosses said the company lost one of its biggest contracts. The company has since been unable to secure further contracts to save the jobs during a 90-day consultation and now the site will close.

Celestica HR services director Mark Steadman said today: “Yesterday we spoke to the trade union representatives and the non-union representatives, and then we began briefing the entire Telford workforce, to confirm the site would unfortunately be closing because the bids for new business that we were waiting to hear about were unsuccessful. We told them that the site would seize production at the end of the year.”

Mr Steadman added a large team of workers would remain at the site during the first part of the new year to close the site down.

David Wright, Telford MP, said: “This is bad news. We need to give workers as much support as possible to get back into the labour market.”

Celestica took over the site in Priorslee in 2000. Its workers run an electronics manufacturing service to make printed circuit boards. The other side of the company focuses on repairs to electronic products.

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