180 jobs under threat as manufacturer plans to close Telford site
About 180 jobs are under threat after a car component manufacturer announced it was considering closing its Telford plant.
German-owned Mahle blamed falling orders for the potential closure of its site at Halesfield 25, where it makes air filtration products for the car industry.
The group, which also has a distribution facility in Bilston, Wolverhampton, said it was now in consultation with its employees about the move.
A statement on behalf of the firm said: “This results from declining order levels, which are expected to deteriorate even further due to the changed strategic direction of automobile manufacturers in Great Britain.
“The declining order levels and the planned reduction in investments and production locations of local vehicle manufacturers have considerably lowered the current and future capacity utilisation of the Mahle filter plant in Telford.
“Against this backdrop, the competitiveness of the location is no longer sustainable despite the continuous investments of recent years.
“Mahle therefore is considering the closure of the production location in Telford and consultations will commence with employee representatives shortly.
Impact
“The company will cooperate closely with the employee representatives to explore all possible alternative measures and to minimise the potential impact on the approximately 180 employees at the Telford location who are likely to be affected.”
Mahle is an international development partner and supplier to the automotive industry. The group consists of four business units – engine systems and components, filtration and engine peripherals, thermal management, and aftermarket. Products are fitted in at least every second vehicle worldwide. Components and systems from Mahle are also used for mobile machinery, rail transport and for marine applications.
In 2018, the group generated sales of about £11.1 billion, with more than 79,000 employees. It is represented in more than 30 countries, with 160 production bases. It also has more than 6,100 development engineers and technicians at 16 major research and development centres across the world.
In 2008 it was announced it was closing down its Wiltshire base and moving its operations to Telford. It said at the time its Halesfield 25 site would be redeveloped to accommodate the expansion in production and staff.
The plans to expand production at Telford at the time came as a result of a review of the company’s manufacturing capacity in Europe.
