SHORT TIME FOR ENGINEERING FIRM

STAFF at Olympus Engineering face having their hours cut as production levels continue to be decimated by the coronavirus outbreak.

Employees at the Etruria company have been told 500 hours will need to be cut from certain areas of the business every week. It comes after the pandemic saw a huge drop in orders from customers including JCB and Bentley Motors.

It is believed the company, which provides engineering services to customers predominantly in the automotive sector, employs about 50 staff at its base in Garner Street.

Employees likely to be affected were issued with a ‘staff briefing’ letter this month. The document, which has been leaked to The Sentinel, details how the company has seen a 51 per cent reduction in orders from JCB in the first quarter of this year, and is predicting a further reduction of almost 80 per cent in the second. At the same time, a lack of orders from Bentley will see turnover for the quarter fall by up to 90 per cent.

The firm’s letter says the reduction in orders and consequent ‘reduced work activity’ has led to a review of ‘all areas’ of the business and structure.

It adds: “We have determined that there is an excess of labour hours for the predicted volume of work... as such, we are looking to reduce the number of weekly hours in these specific areas by five hundred.”

The Sentinel contacted Olympus but it declined to make further comment.