Finnishfirmentering30-dayconsultationperiodwith80EKstaff
FRASER WILSON
Around 80 manufacturing and engineering jobs are at risk at an East Kilbride factory after bosses said they had to “fix the lack of profitability”.
Based in the town’s Peel Park industrial estate, Konecranes provides specialist lifting equipment for industries across the world.
In 2014, the Finnish firm centralised their UK machine tool service to the College Milton site, making it a vital arm of the business outside its Castle Donington headquarters.
But now, like a number of businesses, the company is looking to “protect its long-term future” – and that could mean redundancies here in East Kilbride.
A spokesman for the company told us: “Last week senior management announced a collective consultation for our cranes division in the UK.
“We are looking at all the options available to us, but that may result in some redundancies.
“The UK crane division of Konecranes has not made any money for a number of years now, so we have to find a way of fixing the lack of profitability.
“We are committed to the UK and the markets here, but difficult decisions need to be made to ensure we can make that commitment.”
A 30-day consultation period will start on August 28 and conclude at the end of September.
Around 80 people work at the East Kilbride site, specialising in engineered-to-order and configured-to-order cranes.
A source at the College Milton site told the News workers were told about the consultation period last Thursday and are meeting amongst themselves to discuss the matter this week.
Linda Fabiani MSP called the announcement a “terribly sad situation” and offered her support for all staff affected.
She told the News: “Konecranes have been in the town for many, many years and I hope all avenues have been explored to try and keep some form of presence in East Kilbride.
“I will make representations to the Scottish Government as a priority and ask what assistance they can provide to the workforce during this uncertain time.”
Konecranes is a world-leader in the lifting businesses industry, serving a broad range of customers.
They specialise in maintenance services and spare parts for all types and makes of industrial cranes and hoists, providing an extensive range of industrial cranes, software and service too.
The Group has 18,000 employees in 50 countries and in 2019, their sales totaled 3.33bn EUR.
In need of a lift
We haven’t made any money in cranes for a number of years – we need to fix the lack of profitability...