Third of workforce facing jobs axe at engineers' firm
From the archive, first published Friday 17th Jun 2005.
A THIRD of the workforce at a longstanding engineering firm are facing the axe.
Out of 350 workers at G Clancey Ltd, of Saltbrook Road, Lye, and Belle Vale, Halesowen, 107 casters, moulders and finishers will lose their jobs with bosses blaming a competitive global market.
Nearly 20 employees opted for voluntary redundancy but the rest will be forced out.
The redundancies come after the firm lost a leading order for BMW camshaft parts. The contract was due to end next January but production finished on the parts last week.
Concerned staff still do not know whether their jobs are safe or not.
One employee, who did not wish to be named, said: "Some have been told but not everyone knows if they have jobs or not. All of us are in the dark and do not know where we stand."
Director Phil Osbourne said: "This is most unpleasant. It is an extremely difficult market, we are competing with everybody in the world.
"We will still be employing over 200 people in the Halesowen area. The cost of the merger to the Saltbrook Road site and the loss of the camshaft contract have contributed."
Chris Humphreys, regional General Municipal Boiler Makers Union (GMB) organiser, said: "I'm saddened and shocked by this news. It's a massive loss to the area.
"We were told there would be redundancies back in April but we didn't think that it would be anything like this many, 107 job losses is a lot to that community."
He vowed to work with all staff who have lost their jobs in a bid to get them re-employed.
In a further blow for the foundry, a fire broke out at the Saltbrook Road site on Tuesday night, destroying fans and cooling equipment.
Staff noticed the flames at 9.30pm and managed to put out part of the blaze but the fire had taken hold in some difficult to access trunking.
Two fire crews from Brierley Hill and one from Cradley Heath used a thermal imaging camera through an inspection hatch to find the blaze and spent two hours at the scene.
Brierley Hill Station Officer Geoff Smith said the fire could have been prevented if the trunking had been kept clean.
Mr Smith said: "It was definitely a housekeeping issue - the same as if you don't sweep your chimney the soot can catch fire.
"It was difficult to see the damage but fans were destroyed and they will probably have to replace the ceiling."
G Clanceys declined to comment.
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