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Ford foundry closure costs Leamington Spa 360 jobs

29/03/2007

Carmaker Ford has said it will shut down its Leamington Spa foundry, costing its 360 employees their jobs.

The US manufacturer will close the foundry, which it bought in 1940, in July. It said the facility was losing £10 million a year and could no longer be justified.

"We know the factory is uncompetitive and it is a difficult industry so we have decided to close the plant. Where there is a risk to our competitiveness we have to tackle it," Ford's president, John Fleming, said.

Ford has struggled to turn in profits in recent years and has been forced into drastic restructuring by both the emergence of competitors and an overall downturn in the western car market.

In January it reported its worst full-year results on record, posting a net loss of £6.3 billion, although its European operations reported a profit.

"Ford are closing one of their most efficient UK plants. Again a major employer has made a decision to close a UK plant without proper consultation," Amicus national officer Roger Maddison said.

"Amicus will support any action our members decide to take in order to reverse this decision and protect UK manufacturing," he added.

But Mr Fleming denied that Ford was not committed to its UK operations, saying the company had invested more than £2 billion in Britain in the past few years.

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