A MAJOR bus firm has unveiled plans to close its manufacturing site in Falkirk and move down to England.
Alexander Dennis has announced it will look at consolidating its UK bus body manufacturing operations into a single site in Scarborough as part of a restructuring which is putting 400 jobs at risk.
The proposal would mean Alexander Dennis's Scottish-based manufacturing site in Falkirk, which has already been reduced in recent years, would be discontinued and closed.
Production at Larbert would be suspended upon the completion of the firm's current contracts.
The announcement means around 400 roles face the risk of redundancy, which is approximately 22% of Alexander Dennis’ UK workforce.
The company added that it expects a follow-on impact in its domestic supply chain, with its 1000 suppliers in all parts of the UK due to be impacted.
The firm, which is a subsidiary of NFI Group Inc., said that for every job in bus manufacturing, there is a multiplier of three to four jobs in the wider supply chain and support services.
Paul Davies, Alexander Dennis's president and managing director, said the proposed plans are “extremely regrettable,” but added they “must take significant action” to drive efficiency.
He said: “We are proposing a new UK manufacturing strategy to underpin financial sustainability and lower operating costs in the face of changing and challenging market dynamics.
“Together with our parent NFI Group, we are extremely proud of our UK history and legacy dating back to 1895 and firmly believe in our people, products and business.
“We must take significant action to drive efficiency to allow our operating model to be competitive.
“It is extremely regrettable that as part of this, we must place jobs at potential risk of redundancy and propose to cease manufacturing operations at some of our facilities.
“While stakeholders have been sympathetic of the situation, the stark reality is that current UK policy does not allow for the incentivisation or reward of local content, job retention and creation, nor does it encourage any domestic economic benefit.”
Alongside the announcement of consolidating manufacturing in England, the transport firm added it is also making changes to the structure and management of its customer support teams, which it claimed would help drive a “clearer focus on quality and reliability”.
Davies went on to say a “competitive imbalance” was also partly to blame for the firm's plans to move production down to England and that they would like to see policy and legislative changes that incentivise “local benefits where taxpayer money is invested”.
He added: “We strongly believe funding that supports public transport should lead to investment in local jobs, domestic supply chains, technology creation and a recurrent tax base.
“It is our hope that the forthcoming industrial strategy will provide reassurance that there is value in manufacturing within the borders of the UK and we remain hopeful of policy and legislative changes that increase the UK’s focus on support for domestic manufacturing.
"Our new strategy would allow us to respond appropriately to increase local production if structural changes are made.”
