200 jobs at risk at Newton Aycliffe electronics factory (From The Advertiser Series)
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RFMD, in Newton Aycliffe, reveals plans to close plant and transfer work to America
7:20pm Tuesday 19th March 2013 in Business
By Steven Hugill
The RFMD factory at Newton Aycliffe
HUNDREDS of North-East jobs are at risk after an electronics firm announced plans to close a factory.
RF Micro Devices (RFMD), in Newton Aycliffe, today revealed it was pulling out of the region and moving production to America.
The company, which makes semi-conductors for mobile phones, employs about 200 workers at its plant, on Heighington Lane Business Park.
Staff tonight found out about the plans in a letter from the company.
It said it was transferring work to North Carolina, and would phase down production at Newton Aycliffe, where it makes cellular switches, over the next 12 months to save £13m a year.
One worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “People are very upset, we thought something might be happening but it has still come as a shock.
“We are now in the 90-day consultation period with the company, but we expect to lose our jobs by the end of the year.”
RFMD, which is based in Greensborough, North Carolina, said it would be forced to close its former Filtronics factory, which stands close to the site of the proposed new Hitachi train building plant, if it failed to find a buyer.
The announcement came just hours before Chancellor George Osborne's Budget, and Phil Wilson, MP for Newton Aycliffe, called on the Government to do more to help North-East industry.
He said: “I am very disappointed, the potential loss of these jobs would be a major blow to Aycliffe.
“I have already contacted Business Durham, Durham County Council and other organisations to ensure we do all that we can to help RFMD find a buyer for the site.
“Coming as it did on the eve of the Budget, it is a reminder to the Chancellor that we need a clear strategy for growth to support areas like the North-East.”
RFMD works on power amplifiers and makes software for satellite set-top boxes and satellite radios, and products for wireless networks.
It bought Filtronics' compound semiconductor division for £12.5m in 2008, in a deal that also secured the Newton Aycliffe factory.
The company has plants across the world, with factories in America, France, Germany and China, and has a sales office in Reading, although the future of that site is not known.
Bob Bruggeworth, RFMD president and chief executive, said the company was disappointed to leaving Newton Aycliffe, but said the move would allow the company to continue its expansion.
He said: “We are enjoying increasing demand for our products by delivering the industry’s highest performance and most innovative products and technologies, including power amplifiers, switches and antenna tuners.
“The combination of our industry-leading manufacturing capabilities and our external partnerships support our longstanding commitment to satisfy the full breadth of our customers’ performance, size, and cost requirements.
“They give us unlimited growth potential and we expect these structural changes to have a lasting positive effect on the company’s cost structure, resulting in meaningful expansion.”
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Comments(9)
PaulMJohnson
says...
9:19pm Tue 19 Mar 13
Savant_NE wrote:The problem is there is no special knowledge that is only in the North East at this place. Semiconductor manufacturing knowledge is in Asia and in some parts of the USA.
Why is it such a familiar story with every new parent company taking over.They learn the trade secrets gained over years of experience only then to be tranferred abroad.Why are so many firms not seeing the North East is a place to stay?
Whether it be America or more often you here of Eastern Europe at the moment .We cannot afford to loose the knowledge or the jobs.They should be encouraged to stay not go abroad.
How many firms at the moment are considering opening bases abroad?
If they have that sort of money ,why aren't they investing in the North East?
There's nothing in Aycliffe that RFMD don't already know at their facility in North Carolina.
The sad thing is semiconductors stood a chance in the UK back when Fujitsu opened, but it didn't work out for quite a lot of reasons. It's not coming back. RFMD may sell this to another manufacturer, or they may not, but if they do, it's only a matter of time until this place dies once and for all.
Manufacturing has not been a priority for governments for years. If it was, there would be a huge number of different policies.
For successful manufacturing the UK needs more engineers, so why aren't engineering degree courses free in the UK?
For successful manufacturing, energy policy would focus on providing cheap energy, but the shale gas resource is being ignored at the moment.
For successful manufacturing, there would be lower corporation taxes on companies that do manufacturing.
The list goes on and on.
Better bishop
says...
11:56pm Tue 19 Mar 13
The Love Slug
says...
8:57am Wed 20 Mar 13
Until this Gov't curb the slashing for instant gain, and employ a bit of common sense, gradual cuts and speculation for future rewards, the UK is heading for meltdown.
D. Hop
says...
8:58am Wed 20 Mar 13
David Lacey
says...
9:57am Wed 20 Mar 13
.
Time for radical changes to Government incentives aimed at manufacturing.
D. Hop
says...
12:00pm Wed 20 Mar 13
Better bishop wrote:We are cabable of designing. The problem lies with low manufactutring costs in the likes of China (although they're not as cheap as they used to be) and Eastern Europe. When manufacturing goes its cheaper to centeralise design to a head office, or outsource to a company (in China for example) who can copy what already exists with little guidance.
First all the companies who employed thousands of people closed, Shildon Wagon Works, GEC, Black & Decker. Then the smaller companies who employed hundreds of people, Warners, Rothmans etc. the only way to grow the north east ecomony is to encourage our home grown businesses to expand, these often family run businesses are the backbone of the NE economy. All governments since the end of WW2 have ignored manufacturing. There's still no govt. manufacturing policy in place, we've only started talking about manufacturing since the financial sector has suffered. Everyone goes on about hitachi and the fact that the train building industry is "coming home". The only reason they are coming is because the govt. is spending billions on upgrading the outdated carriages. It's just a glorified assembly plant with most components shipped in from Japan. The real shame here is there are no British companies capable of designing and building trains or ships or planes for that matter. Where did we go wrong?
Lnorthcoop
says...
1:13pm Wed 20 Mar 13
Better bishop wrote:I think we all know her name!
First all the companies who employed thousands of people closed, Shildon Wagon Works, GEC, Black & Decker. Then the smaller companies who employed hundreds of people, Warners, Rothmans etc. the only way to grow the north east ecomony is to encourage our home grown businesses to expand, these often family run businesses are the backbone of the NE economy. All governments since the end of WW2 have ignored manufacturing. There's still no govt. manufacturing policy in place, we've only started talking about manufacturing since the financial sector has suffered. Everyone goes on about hitachi and the fact that the train building industry is "coming home". The only reason they are coming is because the govt. is spending billions on upgrading the outdated carriages. It's just a glorified assembly plant with most components shipped in from Japan. The real shame here is there are no British companies capable of designing and building trains or ships or planes for that matter. Where did we go wrong?
Gcraney66
says...
7:47am Fri 5 Apr 13
Soon to be ex RFMD
Savant_NE says...
8:56pm Tue 19 Mar 13
Whether it be America or more often you here of Eastern Europe at the moment .We cannot afford to loose the knowledge or the jobs.They should be encouraged to stay not go abroad.
How many firms at the moment are considering opening bases abroad?
If they have that sort of money ,why aren't they investing in the North East?