Demise is a sign of the times

Before the council uses up all the white paint budget revamping the Ketley interchange perhaps it should take a look at the sign on the M54 that proclaims boldly "Telford - Birthplace of Industry".

I suggest adding "and site of its demise", for the recent announcements of closures and job losses at Celestica, AVF and now Plastic Omnium are rapidly bringing to an end this town's place as a manufacturing centre.

When I moved my business to Telford 10 years ago, I was courted by the Telford Development Agency and shown the flagship companies - EPSON, Omron, Maxell, Samsung and so on.

Manufacturing was the place to be, although I was a mere minnow in that pond.

Ironically very soon my company may well become the last and therefore by default, the biggest electronics manufacturer in Telford - unfortunately we employ six people not the 600 of Celestica.

I take no pleasure in that but I believe that's the way it will be from now on - smaller businesses providing niche services, employing fewer but generally requiring more highly skilled staff.

Problem is I don't think we are ready for the challenge - our education system is lagging behind and we are inevitably losing our ability to compete on a global scale.

For while it is the unskilled and semi-skilled jobs that have gone first, the more skilled ones will soon follow if we don't have the expertise at home - leaving us in the UK with a workforce skilled in media studies.

Peter Allgood, Allgood Technology Ltd, Telford