150 white collar jobs to go

8:14am Thursday 10th January 2008

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GE AVIATION is cutting 150 jobs at the Bishop's Cleeve site they took over from Smith's Aerospace last year.

The cuts, all white collar jobs, were announced last Friday (Jan 4) and were said to be to make the site, which employs 1,300 people more efficient.

The company is hoping to minimise the effects of the cuts by reviewing its use of temporary workers and asking for voluntary redundancies.

They will take place over the next three to four months.

A company spokesman said that the redundancies were due to conditions within the competitive aerospace market and the need to cut costs.

Smith's aerospace was subject to a £2.1million take over bid by GE Aviation, part of the giant American General Electrics Company, in January 2007.

Bishop's Cleeve parish councillor Mike Beresford worked for the company for 43 years before being made redundant in 1990.

He said: "I am not surprised, when GE took over my first words were Now look out for the redundancies.

"I am concerned about the future.

"When I worked there it had 3000 employees, when these redundancies have taken place there will be less than 1,200.

"I don't know what will happen to Bishop's Cleeve it closes down altogether."

He added that if they get rid of older people who are coming up to retirement age and give them a reasonable redundancy payment they will probably be alright, but if they start getting rid of the younger ones with wives and families things could get really bad.

Smiths Industries started in 1851 making clocks and car instruments.

It moved to Bishop's Cleeve 1940, to get important war production work away from the bombing target of London.