Automotive suppliers in the Midlands were bracing themselves today for the impact of 900 job losses at Vauxhall's UK car plant.
About 40 per cent of the British-sourced parts for the Ellesmere Port-built Astra are made in the region, automotive supply support initiative
Accelerate revealed. Senior operations manager David Malpass said there was no doubt the move was "going to have some impact".
It came as Government figures revealed the number of manufacturing jobs in the West Midlands has crashed to its lowest level since records began.
General secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union Tony Woodley described the sector as being "massacred" and claimed it was no surprise unemployment figures were rising.
National Statistics yesterday revealed 5,000 people left the sector in the West Midlands in three months and the total shed in four years is 85,000. Figures, for the quarter to December 2005, show 360,000 people employed in industry compared with 365,000 in the preceding period. There has been a fall since the launch of records in 2002, when 445,000 were employed.
