An engineering firm in Newcastle has become the latest company in the region to announce job losses as the coronavirus lockdown hits different sectors of the economy.
ADM Pressings, which works predominantly in the automotive sector, has announced redundancies at its site on the city’s Scotswood Road.
The company has declined to say how many jobs will go at the site, which employs around 400 people. Suggestions that the number of redundancies could be around 60 have been denied by the company.
The redundancies are the latest significant job losses to be announced in the North East over the last few weeks, and follow cuts at Nissan, British Engines, De La Rue and electric battery plant Envision AESC 海角视频 that have seen more than 800 people lose their job.
A statement from ADM said: “ADM Pressings Ltd regretfully announced proposed plans to reduce the workforce owing to the ramifications of the COVID-19 economic impact on both the automotive and off-highway industries.
“Official representatives of the business state that local management and its owners are working with employees and trade union to take every measure possible to protect the future of the business and employment prospects.”
ADM operates in metal pressings, welded assemblies and fabrication and describes itself as “the 海角视频’s largest supplier of automotive aftermarket body assemblies."
The company’s most recent accounts, which cover 2018, show a rise in turnover but a small operating loss, and the automotive sector that is its main market has suffered a major slump in the period since then which has been further accelerated by the coronavirus shutdown.
Most Read
Automotive manufacturers went in to the coronavirus crisis battling a number of major challenges, including Brexit uncertainty, a drop in demand for diesel cars and falling sales in China and the US.
The economic shutdown has heightened problems for the sector, with Nissan, Aston Martin and Bentley all cutting jobs, while Vauxhall said it would not resume production at its Ellsmere Port plant on Merseyside until September
Figures released last week show how the number of people in the North East claiming unemployment benefits - which was already the highest in the country - have risen sharply since the economic lockdown.
The number of claimants has gone up from 76,000 in March to 125,000 in May, with warnings that the withdrawal of the furloughing scheme in the next few months will add to the number of people out of work.