Job losses at Denso in Minworth

Nov 15 2008 by Jon Griffin, Birmingham Mail

A BIRMINGHAM car parts firm has been earmarked for closure with the loss of 78 jobs, with its work outsourced to Italy.

Bosses at Minworth-based Denso have launched a 30-day consultation with workers over the future of the plant, less than 18 months after the factory opened.

The proposed closure of Denso in Birmingham would sever a 72-year-old industrial link to the world-famous Lucas empire in the city and a factory which once employed 3,000 people.

In early 2007, around 170 workers previously at the Denso factory, Hall Green, applied for severance packages after the company announced it was leaving the Shaftmoor Lane site to move to Minworth.

Gavin Livingstone, Denso’s finance and administrative manager, said: “We have launched a 30-day consultation period and, until that is concluded, we are not in a position to talk about redundancies.

“Denso is in a position to be able to consolidate production in Italy, where there is a much larger building in San Salvo on the East Coast.

“That is our biggest site in Europe for starters and alternators. The proposed transfer is being investigated. Should that go ahead, it will lead to the closure of the Minworth site.”

Meanwhile, 25 workers have been laid off at Black Country firm Chamois Eco Kitchens, which recently lost a £1 million contract with Wolverhampton City Council.