125 jobs cut at manufacturing site in Carrickfergus

Sensata Technologies told their employess this morning that they plan to reduce their staff workforce.

The company, which employs over 1,000 people here, say they are going into a consultation process with employees - to try and find a different solution than job loss.

The global organisation - which makes sensors, switches and controls for multiple industries - say they deeply regret the news and blamed a drop in demand for the move

The business will engage in a collective consultation period with employees, during which proposed alternatives to compulsory redundancy will be considered.

Sensata Technologies is a global organisation which makes sensors, switches and controls for multiple industries. It has had a significant manufacturing and R&D presence in Northern Ireland since its 2014 acquisition of Schrader Electronics, which was founded in 1988. The company has 1301 employees in Northern Ireland.

The company currently has two sites in Northern Ireland - Antrim and Carrickfergus - manufacturing a range of Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS). Employees in Antrim will not be impacted by today’s announcement.

Graeme Thompson, UK general manager from Sensata Technologies, said: “Following a review of our operations and in response to a drop in expected demand for some of the products currently manufactured in Northern Ireland, the company regrets to announce that we will potentially be reducing the workforce at our site in Carrickfergus by 125 people.

“This has been a very difficult decision and all possible alternatives were explored before it was taken. Our focus now is on providing support to the affected employees and their families. To that end we have engaged globally recognised but locally based outsourcing consultants LHH Penna to provide career transition advice and assistance for all affected employees.”

Mr. Thompson reiterated the Company’s commitment to maintaining its manufacturing base in Northern Ireland.

He said: “Expected production levels for other lines remain steady at this time and Sensata Technologies remains committed to our Northern Ireland operation. 145 employees are set to lose their jobs at an engineering firm in County Antrim.

Williams Industrial Services in Mallusk went into administration - resulting in 145 job losses.

The company said it ran into a number of commercial issues and subsequently ran out of funds.

They said the redundancies would happen with immediate effect.

Commenting on the Administration appointment, WIS chairman John Toner, said:

“Having explored all possible rescue options, it is with deep regret that the directors have had to take steps to have the company placed into Administration.”

Mallusk-based WIS was established in 1983 and is one of Ireland's largest providers of environmental engineering solutions, specialising in water-treatment and anaerobic digestion technologies.

The company employs approximately 145 people directly and has annual turnover which peaked at around £50 million. In addition, Tot Technical NI Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of WIS, employing approx. 15 people and trading from adjacent premises, is set to go into liquidation.

Around half the company’s sales of water-treatment and anaerobic digestion solutions are to customers outside Northern Ireland, primarily in GB and the Republic of Ireland.

Confirming the appointment, PwC’s Stephen Cave said:

“The company ran into a number of commercial issues on some of its key contracts in recent months, culminating in contractual disputes which had a significant and adverse impact on trading cashflow”

“Despite endeavours to resolve the matters and secure a way forward, the company ran out of funds, leaving the directors facing the decision to enter Administration”

“Whilst we are urgently reviewing the company’s financial and trading position, we have unfortunately had to make the majority of the workforce redundant with immediate effect

Meanwhile, more than 200 job losses have been confirmed at another manufacturing company in Northern Ireland, union leaders said.

Schlumberger, which constructs equipment used in the oil and gas industry, previously announced proposals to close its plant in Newtownabbey this year due to prolonged downturn in the industry.

Unite the Union warned 205 posts were doomed after the multinational confirmed to workforce representatives that it would reject a local management rescue bid.

Regional officer Susan Fitzgerald said: This decision demonstrates very clearly that corporate profits are the only determinant when it comes to Schlumberger corporate management.

Today they confirmed to workforce representatives that they had rejected a local management counterproposal which offered a way to save some of the jobs on site through production diversification.

The proposal would have resulted in a significant increase in operating utilisation rates but was rejected by a corporate management who remain intent on offshoring production to low cost centres in Mexico and China and back to the United States.''

The firm saw its revenue during the last three months of last year grow by 3%. Cashflow for the whole year was worth 5.7 billion USD, a recent statement said.

Ms Fitzgerald added: Regardless of the huge profits that they have made from this workforce, Schlumberger's sole objective appears to maximise profits through a race to the bottom on labour costs.''

The company previously blamed a slump in the sector and said the oil and gas industry was going through the most severe downturn of the past 30 years, with operators significantly reducing their investment