One of the Isle of Wight’s leading employers, wind turbine maker Vestas, has said it will cut 300 jobs at its factory on the island.
The job losses stem from a change in demand for turbine blades. Vestas, a Danish manufacturer with global operations, is switching from making offshore blades to onshore blades, which will only require 300 jobs at the Newport site. Constraints at the site mean it is not suitable for the manufacture of the next generation of larger offshore blades
Overall, the company employs 600 people at the plant, which opened in 2002.
Manufacturing job losses
Onshore blades are smaller than offshore ones and with the UK government removing the ban on onshore wind farms the plant has been deemed by Vestas to be better suited to the production of the new generation of onshore blades.
Without this change of government policy it is likely that the plant would have closed altogether.
Anders Nielsen, an executive vice-president and chief technology officer at Vestas, said: “We are pleased that this partnership in principle with the UK government means we can continue manufacturing activities at the Isle of Wight to support the deployment of onshore wind in the UK.”
He added: “My sincere gratitude goes to everyone working for us on the Isle of Wight, for their significant contribution to wind energy, and we are pleased to be retaining and offering a significant number of opportunities for our impacted colleagues during this process.”
Vestas’ technology activities, which employ about 140 people on the island, are not impacted by the decision and will remain a company centre of excellence for blade research, design and development.
A consultation process has started on the job cuts, and employees will be told the result by January.
Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, said: “My thoughts today are with the staff at Vestas who are facing uncertainty about the future of their jobs, especially at this time of year.
“I am, however, pleased that we have reached this agreement in principle with the company to save 300 jobs on the site and that our lifting of the ban on onshore windfarms is helping make a site earmarked for closure viable for the future.”
Vestas employs more than 1,500 people in the UK, and 33,000 worldwide. Alongside GKN Aerospace it is one of the largest employers on the island.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today
Browse more human resources jobs
