5th Apr 2019 17:37
LONDON (Alliance News) - Melrose Industries PLC has been accused of a "breach of faith" after revealing plans to shut a GKN factory in Birmingham, north west England, the Guardian reported late Friday.
The move came a year after the FTSE 100-listed company promised to invest in the business to avoid government intervention in its GBP8 billion takeover of the engineering firm.
The Kings Norton factory, which makes windscreens and windows for both civilian and military aircraft, is to close with the loss of 170 jobs over a two-year period, the newspaper said.
Richard Burden, the Labour MP whose Birmingham Northfield constituency includes Kings Norton, said: "Not only do they [Melrose] want to close a UK plant which is a key part of the supply chain for the aviation industry, but their warning that production could move to ‘low-cost areas’ means they plan to shift this specialised work out of the UK altogether."
Burden added: "It is a breach of faith with GKN employees, with my constituents and with UK manufacturing as a whole."
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Melrose told Guardian that the closure of Kings Norton was taken by GKN Aerospace's management, without any pressure from the parent company.
A GKN Aerospace spokesman said that while there would be no immediate impact on operations, Kings Norton "does not have a long-term, sustainable future within the business".
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/apr/05/melrose-plan-to-shut-gkn-aerospace-factory-is-breach-of-faith
Melrose shares closed 0.4% higher on Friday at 192.80 pence each.
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