Hundreds of employees at a Bothwell factory were this week stunned to learn of plans to transfer their jobs to a new plant in the far east.
Haemonetics (UK) Ltd made the announcement on Monday, activating a 45-day ‘consultation’ period with the Ashley Drive facility’s 270 staff.
Some long-serving workers described the company’s plans as a ‘slap in the face’ for the workforce.
Haemonetics, which provide blood products for hospitals, have had a presence in the village for 20 years. However, some workers thought the ‘writing was on the wall’ for the plant after the company announced last year it was closing operations in Braintree in Essex and Ascoli in Italy.
A worker told the Advertiser this week: “We were asked to stop what we were doing on Monday morning and report what we had done that day, which was unusual.
“We were called into a conference room to be told by an executive from the States about the decision.
“He said there was no easy way of telling us. The company, he said, were taking everything over to Malaysia and it was a purely financial decision.
“He said the Bothwell workforce had always been held in high esteem. However, it’s a slap in the face to be told how good you are, but the company intend to close the plant anyway.
“There had been rumours circulating for a while, but it still came as a bolt from the blue. Monday’s events were all a bit surreal.”
Workers were sent home before noon on Monday and had Tuesday off to “come to terms with the decision”.
The worker added: “It looks like they will have a better idea of what is happening by August after the consultation period, but it could be March when the company close the place. However, they want to retain as many staff as possible in the interim to fulfil orders.”
A company statement released on Monday pointed out the new facility currently being built in Penang is expected to be completed in 2015.
It stated: “The proposal to move production away from Bothwell reflects the company’s strategy, announced in 2013, to transform its global manufacturing footprint to maintain a competitive advantage in the light of challenging economic conditions.
“This new (Malaysian) facility is intended to offer Haemonetics much-improved proximity to customers in its fastest-growing markets and to a number of key suppliers and medical equipment manufacturers.
“In recent years, the balance of products manufactured in Bothwell has been shifting towards Haemonetics’ Asia-Pacific markets.
“This shift, as well as the benefits of consolidating manufacturing in one state-of-the-art facility, close to a growing number of suppliers in a lower cost area, has led the company to propose ending manufacturing operations at the Bothwell facility and to supply the European region, as well as Asia-Pacific, from Penang.”
Bellshill and Uddingston MSP Michael McMahon said this week: “Moving jobs offshore is the kind of thing we encounter on a day-to-day
basis in a global economy.
“This is a huge blow to the area. It is a large enterprise with a highly-skilled workforce. We need that kind of employment in Lanarkshire and to lose that from the local economy is a huge blow.
“We don’t want to receive this kind of news at any time, but particularly when so many people are already out of work.”
Bothwell and Uddingston councillor Jim McGuigan said he would be raising the matter with parliamentary colleagues in Edinburgh. He commented: “It’s very regrettable that the company is making the decision to transfer jobs out of the country. Each job loss amounts to a family being put in a difficult and unenviable situation.”
Haemonetics started operating in Bothwell in July 1994.
On the company’s 10th anniversary at the Ashley Drive site they announced plans to expand their 200-plus workforce with 27 new production line posts.
And in 2005 the company opened a £1.5m extension and created another 22 new jobs at the Bothwell site.
The extension was part of a £2.5m investment in the plant by US parent company, the Haemonetics Corporation of Massachusetts, which was founded in the state in 1971.
In 2005, the then Scottish Government deputy enterprise officer Allan Wilson, who opened the new Haemonetics warehouse building, said the company’s decision to expand in Bothwell was “a strong endorsement” of Scotland as an attractive location for global life sciences companies.”
