Another nail in the coffin of our manufacturing industry

A Hyde factory has announced it will be closing its doors and leaving at least 50 people out of work. Castrol UK Ltd has had made Hyde its base for many generations, producing oil and industrial cleaners. But in a shock announcement last week workers were told that their jobs were only safe until the end of next year. BP Lubricants employ 33 people at the production plant and has confirmed the cuts. Castrol refused to comment but it is thought up to another 20 people work there and will also be out of a job. An employee told the Advertiser everyone at the site was ‘shocked and depressed’ at the news. Hyde Councillor Joe Kitchen said he too was shocked that yet another industrial company was leaving the town. "It has been there a long time and it’s a big employer," he said. "We lost Toray, we have lost part of Ashton Bros, there was Gallaghers a few years ago. "It’s always a bit of a concern when major employers leave and obviously as a council we will be seeing if there’s anything we can do to help the situation," Councillor Kitchen added. Economic chief Councillor Kieran Quinn said: "It’s a sad day for Hyde, it’s sad that we are losing jobs that have been on this site for decades. "The council will work with the company to make sure that these members of staff are given every opportunity to find other work or re-train." A spokesman for BP Lubricants said production would be transferred to other sites in the UK and Europe. He said they regretted the job losses but felt the site was no longer ‘financially viable’.

Despite the strong possibility of industrial contamination on this site, what is the betting that developers are already eyeing up this site to build yet more houses for our massively increasing population? Also, what are we going to do when all we have left in this country is houses and supermarkets?

We used to earn our collective national wealth through manufacturing, as still do top notch countries like Germany, Italy, France, Japan etc, but we manufacture very little as a nation. As a straw pole, think how many people in your immediate circle of friends or family work in manufacturing – you will be lucky if you know any.

As you will have deduced from this little rant you will know that I am no economist, but even to the most simple minded amongst us the sums just don’t add up. I know our ‘glorious’ leaders now describe our economy as “post industrial” but what the hell does this mean? I believe it to mean – we squander the nations collective wealth built up by the sweat and toil of our forefathers and panic like hell when it is all spent!
Tameside Citizen