‘Grave concern’ as 80 more jobs to go at Rolls-Royce

That takes the total number of redundancies announced in 18 months to more than 265.

In December, union bosses expressed disappointment and surprise at the news that 40 jobs were to go from Barlick as part of a 2,600 worldwide reduction, believing that other Rolls-Royce sites in the UK, Europe and the US would bear the brunt of the cuts.

An expected 81 further shop floor jobs are to go at Barnoldswick’s Bankfield and Ghyll Brow sites taking the total to 121 to be made in 2015, added to the 146 redundancies last year.

According to a senior union representative, a company review of its management structure is due to be completed within the next month so more redundancies at Barnoldswick could come.

The union representative said: “The reason for the redundancies is a decrease in work we do at Barnoldswick. It’s a lull between old products and the new products coming in.

“Obviously we have grave concerns. We are hopeful we can mitigate as many of these redundancies as possible but we do envisage compulsory redundancies.

“The company has alluded that it might be able to bring work from Singapore to Barnoldswick. We also hope that there are other projects that we can get in as well.”

A Rolls-Royce spokesman said: “In November we announced a restructuring of our Aerospace division as part of an intensified programme to improve operational efficiency and reduce cost across the group.

“As part of that process we continually review current workload and assess future customer demand to remain competitive.

“We have identified a requirement to reduce the headcount at our Barnoldswick manufacturing facilities by approximately 120 by the end of 2015. This includes a reduction of 40 that was announced at the end of 2014.

“It is never an easy decision to propose reductions in our workforce and we will look to meet this requirement by voluntary means wherever possible.

“We will also explore all mitigation options including redeployment to other sites and are offering full support to employees who are impacted by the changes.”