Renishaw reduces staff at Irish facilities

RENISHAW, the engineering company co-founded by Irish billionaire inventor David McMurtry, has reduced the number of direct manufacturing jobs in Ireland to cut the group’s costs.

The move comes amid a period of “challenging trading conditions” for the engineering company.

Statutory profit before tax for the six months ended December 31, 2019 fell to £9.9m (€11.7m), down from £61.6m in the previous year.

A spokesman for Renishaw, which employs around 260 staff in Dublin, said the headcount reduction was achieved by not renewing some fixed-term contracts and also took place in the UK and India. “Like many manufacturers, we have a high level of short-term contract staff in Ireland and the UK to manage the cyclical nature of some of the sectors that we supply,” he said.

According to the results, the company also plans to further reduce costs by closing a facility in Staffordshire in the UK, which will reportedly cost 120 jobs. The company has said it is aiming to reduce headcount in the UK by 200 people.

Renishaw expects full-year revenue to hit up to £560m.

The company noted that profit in the second half of the year is set to benefit from improved revenue and reduced operating costs compared with the first half.

In preparation for Brexit, Renishaw opened a new warehouse in Ireland to help alleviate any potential disruption serving clients in the EU from its UK facilities.