(Title Image: Sky News)
The Bridgend Ford engine plant has stopped production after 40 years, with an estimated 1,600+ redundancies.
The closure was announced in June 2019 and although production has stopped, a skeleton workforce of around 120 will remain on-site for several months as part of a decommissioning process. 362 former employees have started their own business or found alternative work, while the vast majority have opted for retraining
Ford has established two separate legacy funds worth a combined £3million to support charitable groups in the Bridgend area as well as research and development.
Economy & Transport Minister, Ken Skates (Lab, Clwyd South), said he remained disappointed by Ford’s decision, as well as Ineos’s decision to pull out of a planned Bridgend vehicle plant.
In a statement, he said a task force – set up following Ford’s announcement – has attracted “dozens” of interested enquires into the Bridgend site covering electric vehicles, energy and carbon fibre.
He went on to say: “We will continue to do all we can to stimulate new investment in the area and we will do this by focusing, where possible on the opportunities of next-generation technology. With change comes opportunity and we are positioning Wales as a location for the new technologies that the sector will demand.”
