Pilkington annnounces 90 job losses at its West Lancashire base

Jul 16 2009 by Michael Byrne, Ormskirk Advertiser

GLASSMAKER Pilkington is to cut another 90 jobs in the region as it continues to make massive cost savings.

The firm yesterday confirmed it is looking to make more than one in six of its employees redundant at its European Technical Centre in Lathom, near Ormskirk, as part of global restructuring.

The company has been hit hard by the global downturn as a knock-on effect of the major problems in the car and housing industries.

The West Lancashire site is the group’s research and development facility where nano-technology was developed to produce coated glass for the solar cell and thermal installation markets.

A spokesperson for the company was unable to rule out compulsory redundancies.

She said: “We are in the process of looking at the people at risk. We are trying to bring down the numbers as best as we can.”

Pilkington has completed negotiations with workers affected by the closure of a float line in St Helens, announced in May, which has seen 76 people made redundant. A second line at its Greengate site in the town will not reopen until at least next April, despite a £22m refurbishment last year.

Its Automotive Value Added operation, in St Helens, has also closed with the loss of 11 jobs.

Pilkington now employs fewer than 1,300 people across its five sites in the area, just one-fifth of the workforce employed locally in 1992.

Nippon Sheet Glass (NSG), Pilkington’s Japanese owner, is reducing its global staff levels by 15% – about 6,700 people – by March, 2010.

More than two-thirds of the cuts have already been made, predominantly in China and the Philippines.

It is part of a £170m restructuring programme that aims to make the company profitable again from 2011.

The Tokyo-based company announced losses of £191m in the year to March 31, compared with £243m profits in the previous year.