One of Fife’s oldest engineering firms has confirmed staff could be made redundant as it transfers a major part of its business to Germany.
Managers at Pfaudler Balfour’s Leven plant have announced all new vessel work will be sent to Europe, in a move which could affect all 128 staff.
However, they insisted there was no proposal to close the factory which has been in Leven for 200 years and supplies equipment for the pharmaceutical industry. Instead, they want to grow another part of the business in Fife.
The commitment to remain in the town has been met with some scepticism, with local councillor Tom Adams branding the announcement “devastating”.
“It’s a high quality, well-run company and this will be a major blow for the area,” he said.
Mr Adams, chair of Fife Council’s Levenmouth area committee, said he had heard several weeks ago the Pfaudler Balfour was in trouble but that the company had denied it.
The GMB union warned last month that 100 jobs could be lost at the firm if it decided to consolidate its operations in Germany.At that point the company rejected the union’s claims.
But in a statement issued to staff today, managers said demand had dropped significantly, particularly for new vessel products.
“We need to look at how as a group we can be more competitive,” they said.
The statement added: “The proposal being put forward is that new vessel work currently undertaken at Leven be transferred to Germany and therefore, with regret, this could lead to redundancies.
“We wish to make it very clear that it is not proposed that the Leven site is closed and in fact the proposal is that we grow the Edlon, Engineering Services and Reglass work at Leven.
“As the above proposal potentially affects all staff at Leven, we will be carrying out a collective consultation process with employee representatives to discuss the proposal before making a decision.No decision has been made at this stage.”For more on ths story, see Tuesday’s Courier or try our digital edition.