John Guest to make 95 staff redundant

ALMOST 100 employees are being made redundant from the John Guest manufacturing firm in West Drayton.

The company, in Horton Road, will lose 95 members of staff - the equivalent of just under 10 per cent of its work force - within the next few weeks.

The family-run business, which produces push-in fittings, pipe and plastic plumbing systems for automobile and domestic industries across the globe, has suffered financial losses as a result of the economic downturn.

Robert Guest, commercial director, said: "We are in the middle of an on-going process to make 95 members of staff redundant, which is expected to be finalised imminently.

"We, like many other companies, have been affected by the credit crunch and the effects of the economy, but the number of staff leaving is less than 10 per cent of our UK work force.

"We have also reduced staff numbers in our US work force, although I am not at liberty to comment further due to US law.

"We certainly hope the action we have taken will be sufficient to secure the company's future and, at this point in time, we believe no further action is necessary.

"However, the global economy is extremely volatile and because we manufacture a lot for the automotive industry, which has been hit very hard by the credit crisis, we in turn have also suffered as a company. Our priority is simply to do whatever is in the best interests of the company."

West Drayton Councillor John Horn said: "I think it's very sad that the company is shedding staff, especially as the area is already suffering from a high level of unemployment and social deprivation, and it can only be attributed to the credit crunch.

"Unfortunately, redundancies have a knock-on effect - those who are now unemployed will have less disposable income, which in turn means shop keepers will not be selling as much, and therefore not purchasing as much from manufacturers.

"It's like cannon in billiards and sadly there are no easy solutions, especially since, on a global economic scale, the UK seems to suffering more than most."

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