Luxury yacht builder Fairline Boats has drastically cut the hours of hundreds of workers due to the economic crisis.
The Northamptonshire firm has announced that four of the its five production lines will work just two days a week from this week until Christmas. The fifth will work three days a week.
Chief executive Derek Carter said: “We acknowledge the ill timing of such action for the affected members of our workforce, and are saddened that economic circumstances outside our control have forced this regrettable decision upon us.
“As a manufacturer, Fairline has taken this necessary and prudent action to stabilise the business to ensure that the coming year’s anticipated global demand is matched by production levels.”
The 30% of the company’s 1,360 employees who will be affected will still receive 60% of their wages on days production lines are closed.
Fairline is just the latest in a series of manufacturers to announce cuts to working hours.
Employees at BMW-owned Mini factories in Oxford and Swindon are facing a four-week Christmas shutdown, while Jaguar Land Rover is offering hundreds of staff voluntary redundancy. More than 2,500 workers at construction equipment firm JCB opted last month to accept a pay cut and work a four-day week to save jobs.
