Hundreds of jobs at risk at Timet factory after coronavirus hits airline industry

Hundreds of jobs are at risk at a titanium plant which produces parts for the airline industry. Timet UK has announced 283 proposed redundancies across two sites - one being at its factory in Waunarlwydd in Swansea.

The firm is reported to be in talks with unions and staff about 142 posts at Swansea and a further 141 at Witton in Birmingham.

In a statement the firm said "severely limited airline traffic, especially international flights has had a big impact on business" with many customers reducing their production.

"The company says it has an immediate need to re-size the business to align with the demand.

Although we are yet to understand the full impact of COVID-19 on the commercial aerospace industry, one thing for certain is that the pandemic has severely limited airline traffic, especially international flights. As the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and other macroeconomic factors have weighed on the world, many of our customers have or intend to curtail or reduce their production. Due to the resulting reduction in orders, there is an immediate need to right-size our business to align with the demand for our products.

The impact of COVID-19 on our product lines will be felt for a much longer period than the availability of the Furlough scheme, and we need to find a more permanent solution to rightsizing our business in line with a significant reduction in volumes.

The Company has entered into a 45 days consultation with Unite and employees on 283 proposed redundancies across the Swansea and Birmingham facilities."

The news comes after JCB warned of a risk of redundanciesat its Wrexham plant. They say the coronavirus has halved their production and 950 people could be made redundant across its 10 UK plants, including its site Wrexham which employs around 400 workers.