Bridgend: Politicians' shock and anger over plant closure

Hundreds of workers left Zimmer Biomet following the announcement of its closure on Thursday morning

A US medical manufacturing firm's plans to close a plant putting 540 jobs at risk has been met with shock and anger.

Zimmer Biomet, which makes hip and knee replacements said on Thursday that it needed "significant investment" to keep its Bridgend plant open.

MS for Ogmore, Huw Irranca Davies said he was angry while Bridgend MP, Jamie Wallis, said the move was shocking.

After meeting with company bosses on Friday, the Unite union said it would fight the proposal to close the plant.

Unite's regional officer, Jason Bartlett, said his understanding of the current proposals would see the plant could be fully decommissioned by June 2025 with many staff losing their jobs some time before then.

The Labour MS, Huw Irranca Davies told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast on Friday: "So I've gone beyond shock now that everybody feels within the local area.

"I'm actually quite angry now."

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He said he and other MSs had written to the UK government to say they were "serious about levelling up then they need to step in and help here".

Huw Irranca-Davies says he is "angry" Zimmer Biomet gave no indication beforehand of its plans to close the plant in Bridgend

Conservative MP Jamie Wallis said: "It's absolutely shocking it's still not sunk in."

He added that Zimmer Biomet had "outright promised me if they ever became aware of the jobs being at risk they would let me know".

Instead Mr Wallis said he found out an hour before the closure announcement was made, which he called "unacceptable".

The firm had representatives in Westminster "not long ago" he added, but only had questions about when NHS orthopaedic surgeries would be opening up again following the pandemic.

"There was a lot of focus on that side of things, not so much a request for direct financial support," he said. "I met with them face-to-face and nothing was ever even hinted at that jobs might be at risk at some point."

Unite's Jason Bartlett says the union has "got to fight" the proposals

A six-month consultation with staff has now begun.

Plant director Maria Silva said she would "evaluate alternatives and how to limit the loss of jobs".

Unite, which represents staff, said it would "fight for jobs and a viable future for the site".

"We've got to fight the proposals," Mr Bartlett said after the meeting. "If there's anything that needs to be explored we need to explore it.

"We're due to meet the ministers and the Senedd to find out if there's anything we can do financially to aid the company.

"We need to have dialogue with the company to see exactly what they are focused on or what they are looking for.

He added that they could help the company but it needed to "tell us what they're looking for".

Robert Bowen a lecturer at Cardiff Business School, called it a "blow to the area" coming after the closure of the Ford engine plant in 2020 and the loss of more than 1,600 jobs.

Cardiff University lecturer Robert Bowen says there may be opportunities to try to save jobs and the plant

He said the six-month consultation process was long, "so there may be some signs of positivity around that".

It could mean the "company is trying to engage with relevant stakeholders to see what can be done", he added.

"[Zimmer Biomet] spoke about a need for more investments in the plants or maybe there is an opportunity there over this consultation period to see if investment could be sought and invested in the company in this way."

He also said a number of a jobs could be saved if the "way in which the production occurs could be done in a more effective way".