Vestas Announces Closure of Two Facilities in UK

After regaining control of their Isle of Wight plant at the end of an 18 day sit-in, Vestas has announced that two of their wind turbine plants will be closing. The closures will result in the termination of 425 jobs. 

The company notified employees at both facilities, the Isle of Wight plant and a second plant in Southampton, today that the closures would take place immediately. Vestas did announce, however, that 40 employees would be relocated to jobs at a research and development centre on the Isle of Wight, and an additional 57 would be kept on the aid in shutting the factory down.

“The decision to close the factory was very difficult, and we fully recognise the impact this will have on employees, their families and on the Isle of Wight. Nonetheless, this commercial decision was absolutely necessary to secure Vestas’ competiveness and create a regional balance between production and the demand for wind turbines,” commented  Ole Borup Jakobsen, president of Vestas Blades.

The company had announced last April that it would be closing the Isle of Wight facility, claiming they could manufacture wind turbines more economically in the United States. The protests have seen Vestas in the news for a month now as environmentalists and trade unions rallied around the factory in support of the laid-off workers. 

The company has also publicly said that UK energy planning laws have hindered wind energy development in the UK, making it difficult for turbine manufacturers to remain competitive in the global market.  

Thanks to guardian.co.uk for the above quotes, for more information on this story please visit their website.