Staff told car plant under threat

The plant in Felinfoel was earmarked for closure three years ago but saved

The owners of a car components plant in Llanelli that once employed over 1,000 workers say it could finally close with the loss of 100 jobs.

ThyssenKrupp Tallent, formerly Camford Pressings, has told staff it is looking at moving work to its other UK sites.

It said a final decision had yet to be made and it was unlikely any permanent employees would be made redundant before the summer.

The company blamed a significant fall in orders due to the current recession.

It is not the first time the future of the plant in Felinfoel has been under threat.

Three years ago the company held a 90-day consultation about closing it.

In a statement group HR manager Sue Boulton said: "It with great regret that the workforce of ThyssenKrupp Tallent's Llanelli plant were briefed on the possible closure of the site due to the significant fall in volume caused by the current recession.

"ThyssenKrupp Tallent has six plants in the UK all operating well below capacity with orders from customers down between 35% and 60%.

Improved profitability

"It has lost over a third of its employees in less than a year across all its sites and is now faced with rationalising its facilities in order to improve its financial performance."

She said initial analysis suggested closing the plant and relocating the work to other UK sites would improve profitability.

"However, no final decision has been taken and further detailed investigation into the costs and savings from relocating production will now be undertaken," she added.

"Equally the company will also enter into consultation with union representatives regarding ways of reducing the cost base of the site to retain the business in Llanelli.

"Should a final decision to close the site be taken it is unlikely that any permanent employees would be made redundant before the summer and obviously it would take some time to fully close a site of this size."

She said a final decision on the future of the site was not expected for several weeks.

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