Rolls-Royce plant to axe 200 jobs

Rolls-Royce is to axe 200 jobs at its aerospace plant in Renfrewshire.

The engineering firm said it had transferred some work out of the Inchinnan factory, while reviewing its supply chain.

It said it was facing challenging market conditions.

The workforce was informed on Thursday. The union, Unite, has called for urgent talks with management, as well as support from the Scottish government.

A spokesman for the firm said: "Rolls-Royce is today informing staff and employee representatives at its Inchinnan facility of proposals to reduce the workforce at the site.

"A drop in workload due to the completion of a planned transfer of work, and a review of operational effectiveness in some of our supply chain manufacturing operations, has resulted in the proposed reduction.

"Due to challenging market conditions there have been limited opportunities to bring in new work, resulting in a proposed reduction of approximately 200 roles."

'Right scale'

The spokesman said Rolls-Royce would offer full support to employees who are impacted by the changes and we will seek to avoid compulsory redundancies wherever possible.

Chris Cholerton, Rolls-Royce's executive vice president of compressor components, said: "We need to ensure our business remains competitive and has the right scale for today's market and workload.

"It is never an easy decision to propose reductions in our workforce, but it is a sign of the increasingly competitive market in which we operate that such actions are necessary.

"We have invested over £85m at Inchinnan to make it a state of the art facility and are continuing to transfer our operations from East Kilbride to maximise efficiency. This will ensure we remain competitive and are best placed for any opportunities that may appear in the future."

Unite regional industrial officer Debbie Hutchings said: "Unite is dismayed by today's announcement from Rolls Royce that over 200 jobs are to be cut at its Inchinnan plant.

"We are seeking urgent meetings with the company and we will do everything we can to mitigate these significant cuts and avoid any compulsory redundancies.

"This is also a blow for the wider Scottish economy. We cannot afford to lose 200 skilled aerospace manufacturing jobs in this fragile climate and the Scottish government must intervene to provide every help possible to the local workforce."

A Scottish government spokeswoman said: "We recognise that this announcement will cause concern to Rolls-Royce employees at Inchinnan and their families. We note the fact that the company is seeking to achieve these redundancies through voluntary arrangements.

"This news follows a decision in 2012 to relocate and safeguard some 620 jobs from the company's premises at East Kilbride. The company remains committed to the Inchinnan site in which it has invested £85m to make it a leading and modern manufacturing facility.

"The Scottish Government and its agencies will continue to work closely with Rolls Royce to ensure all possible support is given to secure further work and safeguard jobs. We stand ready along with our agencies to provide all possible support to those affected by today's announcement through our PACE initiative."