Engineering firm reveals redundancies

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 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 UK, which have seen more than 800 people lose their jobs.

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 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 UK’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 slump in the period since then, which has been further accelerated by the coronavirus shutdown.

Automotive manufacturers went into 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.

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 - has 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 the withdrawal of the furloughing scheme will add to the number of people out of work.