Business

Wrightbus: 1,200 jobs lost as business enters administration

A Wrightbus zero emission vehicle
A Wrightbus zero emission vehicle A Wrightbus zero emission vehicle

Around 1,200 workers at Ballymena bus-maker Wrightbus have been told they have lost their jobs as the firm entered administration this morning.

The company's 1,250 workforce were informed this morning that a buyer had not been found for the business.

Administrators from Deloitte have now taken control of the company, representing the latest blow for manufacturing in a town still reeling from the loss of JTI Gallaher and Michelin.

The financial services group said it had been appointed administrators to the Wrights Group, including Wrightbus Limited, Wright En-Drive Limited, Wright Composites Limited and Metallix Limited.

Administrators Michael Magnay and Peter Allen from Deloitte said the various Wrightbus companies had around 1,250 employees and the lack of a buyer "unfortunately means approximately 1,200 redundancies are being made today".

Mr Magnay said: "It is bitterly disappointing for all concerned that despite extensive efforts over recent months it has not been possible to find a buyer who wanted to maintain the business as a going concern.

"We recognise the companies are crucially important employers in Ballymena and this will be devastating news for those who worked there, their families and the town, which has already suffered from a number of manufacturing closures in recent years.

"We will continue to support employees through this difficult time.

"The joint administrators will explore all remaining options for the business and assets, and would encourage any parties with an interest to contact them."

The Unite union has warned that  a further 3,400 jobs in the supply chain are now at risk.

Unite regional officer George Brash, who met with senior managers at the firm this morning said: “We have been told there is a company desperate to get in and takeover Wrightbus.

Read More: Many workers have not yet received September wages as Wrightbus poised to go into administration

“While this is welcome, it shouldn’t be done at the expense of jobs and contractual terms.

“I will be insisting on a meeting with the administrator today and arguing that for those who wish to stay their contracts should be honoured while a new buyer comes forward.”

The chief executive of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, Ann McGregor, has described the fate of Wrightbus as "absolutely devastating for the firm's highly skilled workforce, for Ballymena and for the wider Northern Ireland manufacturing sector".

"It also has huge consequences for the firm's supply chain, especially SMEs. All efforts must be made to find a buyer for the company," she said.

"There is concern for the future growth within manufacturing here with our members in the sector currently experiencing falling order books and fewer working at full capacity over the last quarter.

"Without a sensible and pragmatic plan to support the sector and the urgent restoration of powersharing at Stormont, manufacturing, and the wider business community, will find itself in an even more challenging position.

"We have to find a way to stop the Northern Ireland economy losing any more ground."

Also speaking in Ballymena this morning, Unite regional secretary Jackie Pollock said: “This is a workforce at the cutting edge of technological advancements in the design and supply of green public transport.

“We cannot afford to lose any more jobs or skills in this area, this is now a crisis and with MLA’s abdicating their responsibilities and the ongoing stagnation at Stormont the Prime Minister now needs to step in.

“Ultimately if a solution based on a new buyer isn’t found immediately the Government must intervene to save jobs and skills.

“Just three months ago Boris Johnson gave assurances that he ‘will do everything we can to ensure the future of that great UK company’, he has a chance today to do something decent.”

At least two Chinese firms and one Northern Irish company were interested, union sources said.

Administrators told Wrightbus workers during mass meetings covering all sections of production but the union appealed to them to show creativity in finding a solution.

DUP MP Ian Paisley said the administrator "has a week to find a buyer".

The North Antrim firm has been seeking investment or a new owner as it struggles with cash problems.

Stormont Assembly member Jim Allister said: "My heart goes out to the hundreds with no wage packet this week or job hereafter."

Wrightbus has been a hugely profitable company in the past and based its business model on producing low-emissions vehicles.

When Mr Johnson was mayor he announced a lucrative order to produce London's distinctive red double-decker, an updated version of the original Routemaster.

Critics at the time said the new "Boris buses" were too expensive and estimated that the first eight had cost £1.4 million each to design and build.

There were also complaints that the new Routemasters, which were longer and heavier than other models, were unbearably hot with later batches altered to provide windows.

Mr Johnson visited Wrightbus during the EU referendum campaign in February 2016.

Wrightbus founder William Wright has been a prominent supporter of Brexit and the DUP, which has been propping up the Tories at Westminster.

Northern Ireland's manufacturing industry has been under pressure in recent years with the slumping into administration of Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.

Michelin Tyres and Gallaher's Tobacco firms have also closed in Ballymena.

THe north has lost close to 2,500 skilled jobs over recent years.

Susan Fitzgerald, regional co-ordinating officer at Unite, said bus company buyers would be "licking their lips".

She said Wrightbus was producing socially-necessary products used by public transport providers in Belfast and Dublin, and it should be given help by the British government.

She added: "They need to be produced and why should be produced for profit?"

Ms Fitzgerald added: "Boris Johnson has a hobby making buses out of wooden crates."

She said he needed to stop his hobby and work to save the Ballymena jobs.