Engineer workers fear job losses

Precision engineering company Renishaw has emailed staff asking them to clear any personal possessions from its sites ahead of a redundancy announcement next week.

The company, which currently employs more than 900 people at its Wotton-under-Edge headquarters, has denied accusations that it has been insensitive from outraged workers.

Renishaw, a world leader in producing measuring, calibration and motion-control equipment for industrial and medical use, announced plans to axe about 500 staff – more than a fifth of its total workforce – earlier this month after of the global economic downturn hit sales. There will be up to 300 redundancies at Wotton-under-Edge, and 170 at its other Gloucestershire sites in Woodchester and Stonehouse, near Stroud.

Some staff said they were "appalled" that they were being asked by email to remove personal possessions from the premises before learning next week who would be made redundant. A spokesman said that from Monday until Wednesday, employees at Renishaw's sites in Gloucestershire would be individually notified whether their positions are "at risk".

He said: "As a company that has always maintained an open and honest dialogue with its staff, and in accordance with legal processes, we are taking a series of measures that are aimed to minimise the distress that we recognise will inevitably result for many of our employees."

The spokesman said that advising staff to take home personal belongings stored at work would ensure that anyone told they were facing redundancy would not have to come back to collect their possessions if they did not want to.

He added: "Renishaw regrets that due to the exceptional and unprecedented global recession that is has been necessary to undertake a redundancy programme, especially as our employees have always shown great loyalty and dedication to the company."

In January Renishaw announced a seven per cent fall in its profits for the six months to December 31, to £14 million pounds from £15.1 million in the previous six months.

Last July chief executive Sir David McMurtry said Renishaw was planning on growth after reporting a record turnover of £201.2million – an 11 per cent increase from £188.9m the previous year.

He said new tools it was developing would help it through the economic downturn.

Renishaw employs 2,151 people worldwide including 1,400 at its three Gloucestershire bases.