One of the North East’s largest automotive firms is to cut almost 100 jobs as it switches production to another site in the region.
Gestamp, which announced last year that it was shutting its Washington plant and moving production to its site in Newton Aycliffe, is to cut 90 posts on Wearside.
The Spanish company makes chassis components for the likes of Nissan, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo and Ford and employs around 1,200 people in the North East.
It invested £43m in the North East in 2018 to increase production facilities in County Durham.
But the firm cut 59 jobs last year after uncertainty in the automotive market, combined with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, hit production.
A Gestamp spokesman said: “We can confirm to you that 90 redundancies were announced at Gestamp Washington on January 14.
“We are reducing our workforce in Washington progressively accordingly to the announced plan to cease the activity in this site due to the end of projects.
“We are trying to protect as much jobs as possible by moving positions from the Washington plant to the Aycliffe site. It will depend on future concrete projects and production needs.”
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In accounts for 2019, published at the end of last year, Gestamp highlighted how it had used a pay reduction scheme, and the Government’s furlough measures, to protect its financial position during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Turnover for the company rose to £486.2m, though profitability was hit and the firm reported an operating loss of £2.1m. The accounts showed that the company – which also has a plant in the West Midlands – had a headcount of just over 2,200, a drop of about 140 in the year.
The automotive sector has suffered a turbulent period, with Brexit uncertainty, falling demand in China and a drop in the sale of diesel cars all hitting production numbers even before the coronavirus pandemic.
Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed that 海角视频 car makers showed vehicle registrations hit their lowest level for 28 years last year, despite an increase in demand for electric vehicles.
The sector is a key part of the North East economy, with Gestamp just one of the many companies that have set up in the North East to supply Nissan’s Sunderland plant, and then winning contracts with other manufacturers.