Scots economy ‘hammer blow’ as Covid-19 claims 700 jobs at Rolls-royce
More than 1,000 jobs are set to be lost across Scotland’s Central Belt in a “hammer blow” to the country’s crippled economy as engineering giant Rollsroyce led a list of stinging redundancies.
Rolls-royce yesterday announced it was axing 700 jobs at its Inchinnan plant in Renfrewshire as the economic fallout from the Covid-19 crisis intensified.
And global chain Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) separately released plans for further redundances in Scotland, with hundreds of staff told job cuts were “likely” at venues across Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Around 60 jobs will be lost after US medical research firm Charles River Laboratories announced plans to close its laboratory in Edinburgh. Restaurant chain Frankie & Benny’s also confirmed outlets were to remain closed permanently after lockdown, placing Scottish sites at risk.
Nicola Sturgeon pledged the Scottish Government would work with unions and other parties in an effort to save the Rolls-royce plant. The job losses, more than half of the plant’s 1,300 workforce, are expected to come from its services division at the factory.
Ms Sturgeon told MSPS yesterday: “The news that the workers at Rolls-royce in Inchinnan will have got this morning is absolutely devastating and my thoughts are very much with all of them and their families.
“The Scottish Government will continue to do everything it possibly can to get a more positive outcome to this. These jobs are important, the Rollsroyce facility is important and of course advanced manufacturing is very important in terms of the Scottish economy now and in the future.”
Economy secretary Fiona Hyslop has been tasked with co-ordinating a cross-party approach to help save jobs at the plant.
The First Minister said “all options” for financial interventions from the government would be considered within state aid constraints.
“We always look for ways in which we can protect jobs and protect important manufacturing facilities like this.”
The news came as IHG, which runs more than 5,000 hotels across the globe, warned hundreds of staff that redundancies were “likely” due the severe economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The company confirmed three of the group’s hotels in Edinburgh are at risk of job cuts – these include Kimpton, in Charlotte Square, The George in George Street and Crowne Plaza in Royal Terrace.
Staff at the five-star Kimpton Blythswood Square hotel in Glasgow have also been told they are at risk of redundancy.
A spokesman for the firm said: “Our hotels are currently closed and while we are looking forward to welcoming guests back when we can reopen, it will take time for travel and tourism to return to precoronavirus levels. As a result, we have launched a consultation to restructure our hotel teams, which unfortunately is likely to involve some redundancies.”
Roll-royce has begun the process by offering voluntary redundancy to everyone across its UK civil aerospace division. The firm, which makes aero-engines and power systems for aircraft and military ships, is to shed 9,000 jobs worldwide. The figure is around 20 per cent of its workforce. Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: “These redundancies would be a hammer blow to hundreds of families and would have a devastating impact on the local economy, and to Scotland’s manufacturing base.
“I have repeatedly appealed to both Roll-royce and to the Prime Minister to intervene to help prevent redundancies.
“Both Scottish and UK governments must now work with the trade unions urgently to pressure the company to revisit this decision, to prevent and reduce this scale of redundancies.”
How we are trying to ease the worry of North Sea workers left high and dry by Covid-19 lockdown
The global spread of coronavirus has already produced a number of obstacles that we all must tackle head on, including the economic implications of the drop in demand for energy and a huge drop in the price of oil.
I’m acutely aware of the worry this is causing to the tens of thousands of workers who rely on the oil and gas industry for their livelihoods, especially in Scotland, but also right across the UK.
I want to reassure you that the UK government will be there for everyone connected with this – every step of the way.
Since the onset of the pandemic, the UK government has put together a far-reaching package of support to help Scottish businesses, including offering to pay 80 per cent