Luxury yacht maker to axe 290 jobs

8:41am Sunday 12th October 2008

A company which manufactures luxury motor boats and yachts is set to shed more than 290 jobs due to the global economic downturn.

Sealine, which has its headquarters in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, also confirmed that it plans to close its sites in nearby Hartlebury and in Burntwood, south Staffordshire, next year.

The firm, which currently employs around 630 people, stressed that it was entering into a 90-day consultation process with staff and would do everything it could to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies among its office and production workers.

In a statement, Sealine's managing director, Steve Coultate, said: "It is with great regret that we are planning these changes, but they are necessary given the current leisure marine market conditions and economic environment.

"We need to take action to protect the long-term prospects of both our company and our international dealer network."

Mr Coultate added that the action the company was taking would leave it well positioned to respond to a market upturn.

"We will seek to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies by inviting applications for voluntary redundancies and for all of those employees affected we will be providing a full consultation and counselling programme," he said.

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