Wrightbus

Type
Internal restructuring
Country
United Kingdom
Region
Northern Ireland; Northern Ireland; Antrim and Newtownabbey
Location of affected unit(s)
Ballymena
Sector
Manufacturing
(29 - 30) Manufacture for transport equipment
29.2 - Manufacture of bodies and coachwork for motor vehicles; manufacture of trailers and semi-trailers
29.20 - Manufacture of bodies and coachwork for motor vehicles; manufacture of trailers and semi-trailers
125 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
21 May 2020
Employment effect (start)
6 July 2020
Foreseen end date

Description

Wrightbus, the British bus builder, has announced that it is cutting 125 jobs, 35 permanent and 90 agency positions at its main site in Ballymena, in Northern Ireland.

The company’s chief executive said the restructuring was necessary to compensate for the economic slowdown resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

An officer of the trade union Unite the Union said the company’s decision to propose job cuts and start redundancy consultations was “'regrettable”. He called on the management to utilise the UK government's job retention scheme instead of cutting jobs, and to keep skilled workers to accelerate the production of new, more environmentally friendly buses.

Wrightbus has created the world’s first hydrogen-electric double-decker bus, which emits only water. The company currently employs 700 people.

Sources

Citation

Eurofound (2020), Wrightbus, Internal restructuring in United Kingdom, factsheet number 101101, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/101101.