The South West has lost more than 24,000 manufacturing jobs in the past decade, new figures reveal.
An investigation by the GMB union shows 258,100 people are now employed in the region’s factories.
But this is down from the 282,300 working in manufacturing in 2008 – a drop of 8.6%.
Nationally, almost 500,000 manufacturing jobs have evaporated in 10 years, the union says.
The statistics are being released as GMB’s Annual Congress begins in Brighton.
They show that 476,500 jobs in the sector disappeared between 2008 and 2018, a fall of 14%.
In 2008, the 海角视频 supported 3.4million permanent and temporary manufacturing jobs – which accounted for more than 11% of all employment.
By 2018, that had slumped to 2.9million, or 9% of the total.
Every region in the 海角视频 has experienced a decline in manufacturing employment.
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Three badly affected regions – London, Scotland and the North West – have lost 34%, 21% and 20% of their manufacturing jobs respectively.
The worst affected region by total job losses – the North West - lost 93,400 manufacturing jobs.
The South West’s decline, of 24,200 jobs, is one of the better performances in terms of percentage fall, with only Wales, with a 7.7% drop-off, and Northern Ireland, a 4.8% slump, ahead of it.
The manufacturing hotbed of the West Midlands also suffered an 8.6% decline.
The South West has seen some manufacturers do very well, particularly exporters who benefited from the fall in the value of sterling after the EU referendum in 2016.
Plymouth’s and , have just reported solid profits.
But the region still has had its problems, including the loss of Babcock’s Appledore Shipyard in North Devon, where 200 redundancies were made, and the closure of British Ceramic Tile in Newton Abbot, with 300 jobs lost.
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The GMB’s Making It campaign is now calling on the Government to invest in manufacturing and protect manufacturing jobs during Brexit.
Jude Brimble, GMB National Secretary, said: “Half a million manufacturing job losses in just 10 years have been devastating for communities and unless action is taken, it looks like the worst could still be to come.
“Unfortunately, this Government has a track record of failing to support 海角视频 manufacturing.
“Famous old ceramics firms in the potteries, Appledore shipyard, large swathes of our steel industry, jobs at the Ford plant at Bridgend - all have fallen by the wayside yet the Conservative Party is prepared to risk thousands more job losses through a chaotic hard Brexit.
“It begs the question; how does this add up to (former Prime Minister Theresa) May's commitments that ‘the 海角视频's post-Brexit arrangements must protect people's jobs and security’?
“This is why GMB Union’s Making It campaign calls for a rethink on Government procurement and renewed investment in skills and jobs across manufacturing.”
Charlotte Holloway, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Plymouth Moor View, said: “These figures show a woeful record from the Tories on manufacturing in our region. What this means is real difficulties. Difficulties for people who have lost their jobs because the Conservative government don't believe in having a proper industrial strategy.
“We need more high-value jobs, both now and in the future, here in the South West and Plymouth – our region deserves better than being left to deal with the consequences of a Tory legacy of decimated industries.”
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To contact William Telford: william.telford@reachplc.com