Rolls-Royce planning to close Ashfield site as result of coronavirus pandemic

Rolls-Royce have announced that they plan to close their Annesley site after the demand for products and services fell significantly as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The aerospace giant confirmed today (August 26) that it is proposing to close its Annesley site in Nottinghamshire as it no longer has the workload necessary to keep operations running.

The firm, which employs tens of thousands of staff, announced in May that 9,000 jobs would be lost as part of a cost-cutting exercise after they were hit hard by the sudden downturn of the aviation sector during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Now, the East Midlands based manufacturing company are looking at ways to mitigate the effects of the closure, which could include transferring staff to their largest site in Derby.

Rolls-Royce will close its Annesley site after Covid-19 impacted the demand for its products and services.Rolls-Royce will close its Annesley site after Covid-19 impacted the demand for its products and services.
Rolls-Royce will close its Annesley site after Covid-19 impacted the demand for its products and services.

A spokesman for Rolls-Royce said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has created a historic shock in civil aviation which will take several years to recover.

“Demand for our Civil Aerospace products and services has fallen significantly, and we’ve had to take difficult, but necessary decisions to position ourselves for the future.

“It is with great sadness that today we have told our employees in Annesley that we are proposing to close the site.

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“Due to the significant reduction in demand for our products and services, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we no longer have the workload necessary to sustain operations."

He added: “We are now consulting with trade unions and employee representatives, and will look at all mitigating options, including offering our people transfers to Derby.

“Today’s news will understandably be very worrying for everyone working in Annesley, and our number one priority is to provide support to our employees and their families.”

There are around 120 people at the site in Annesley, and the firm also has a site in Hucknall, which employs around 800 members of staff.

In 2017, Rolls Royce invested millions of pounds into its sites in Hucknall and Annesley in a bid to safeguard around 1,000 jobs.

No redundancies will be made today (August 26) according to the firm.