RSM Industries having to lay off 100 staff before Christmas

[dutchman]

A hundred workers will lose their jobs before Christmas after a city firm was dealt a major blow by one of its major contractors.


RSM Industries MD Greg Williams

Exhall-based RSM Industries, which makes metal components for the car industry, has been forced to cut 90 per cent of its workforce after its biggest contract was pulled with just a month’s notice.

Many of the workers being made redundant have worked for the company for 25 years and managing director Greg Williams admits he’s devastated at having to lay them off.

The lost contract with Johnson Controls involved making car seat bracketry for manufacturers such as Nissan, Jaguar Land Rover, Ford and Citroen.

Mr Williams said: “We have lost nine major contracts with Johnson Control, and they will be terminated on December 17.

“They’ve only given us one month’s notice, even though we have been supplying them for 25 years. It’s very sad.

“The staff are very despondent, very low. We just cannot believe it. We’ve no choice but to start announcing redundancies.”

RSM Industries will continue with only 15 workers after the redundancies, but Mr Williams is pinning his hopes on winning new contracts with a view to re-employing some of the staff who will lose their jobs.

He said: “Johnson are a big corporate company, and an aggressive company. I wouldn’t say our relationship has been perfect over the years, but they should have given us three or six months’ notice so that we could manage things properly and professionally.

“It’s sad, but for me it’s about the next three weeks and how I can start to rebuild the company.

“We have to focus on all the things we’ve got that the West Midlands needs.”

He said he was determined to come out fighting for his workers and win another lucrative contract to secure their future.

He said: “I want to try to call some of the staff back. A lot of them have worked for this company for 25 years – we’ve got a very loyal workforce.

“If we find new work, we can start again. We invested £1.2million in a new machine last year; that is an investment for the future.

“For me, this is about trying to make the most of a bad situation – and I think we can.”