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Offer may save 100 Grove jobs
00:00 11 Nov 1998
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by Fiona Kingston
A last ditch attempt is being made to save jobs at Grove Worldwide's Sunderland manufacturing plant. In a move which could prevent 100 of the plant's 670 redundancies, an ex-production director for the crane factory, Malcolm Pattison, has made a "substantial offer" to Grove Worldwide for the operation's foundry and part of the assembly area covering about 10 acres.
Although not prepared to comment on specific approaches the factory's human-resources manager Mike Gallaher said: "It's common knowledge that we're dealing with local development bodies and the City of Sunderland regarding possible ways of retaining jobs."
Although upbeat about Pattison's offer and the likely retention of jobs, AEEU official and works convenor Peter Davidson has still to hear whether it has been accepted. Commenting on Pattison's bid, Davidson said: "This is great news. Saving any jobs in Sunderland is to be welcomed. We have worked with Malcolm before and I am sure we can work well together again."
Until a decision is taken on Pattison's offer and other rumoured bids for the 100-acre site Grove's phasing out of production is going ahead. With the bulk of production jobs ceasing on 27 November the workforce - very few of whom have been able to find alternative employment - is desperate for a decision. When pressed for an answer on the likely outcome of current negotiations Gallaher would not be drawn. In addition to Pattison's offer it is rumoured that a subcontractor for Komatsu (UK) has been showing an interest in the site.
However a Komatsu UK spokesman told CJ: "As far as we are aware there are no plans for any of our suppliers to go into the facility." One of the site's attractions could be its ability to produce castings, but Komatsu UK ,which currently gets all of its castings from Komatsu, Brazil said: "It would not be cost effective."
A last ditch attempt is being made to save jobs at Grove Worldwide's Sunderland manufacturing plant. In a move which could prevent 100 of the plant's 670 redundancies, an ex-production director for the crane factory, Malcolm Pattison, has made a "substantial offer" to Grove Worldwide for the operation's foundry and part of the assembly area covering about 10 acres.
Although not prepared to comment on specific approaches the factory's human-resources manager Mike Gallaher said: "It's common knowledge that we're dealing with local development bodies and the City of Sunderland regarding possible ways of retaining jobs."
Although upbeat about Pattison's offer and the likely retention of jobs, AEEU official and works convenor Peter Davidson has still to hear whether it has been accepted. Commenting on Pattison's bid, Davidson said: "This is great news. Saving any jobs in Sunderland is to be welcomed. We have worked with Malcolm before and I am sure we can work well together again."
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Until a decision is taken on Pattison's offer and other rumoured bids for the 100-acre site Grove's phasing out of production is going ahead. With the bulk of production jobs ceasing on 27 November the workforce - very few of whom have been able to find alternative employment - is desperate for a decision. When pressed for an answer on the likely outcome of current negotiations Gallaher would not be drawn. In addition to Pattison's offer it is rumoured that a subcontractor for Komatsu (UK) has been showing an interest in the site.
However a Komatsu UK spokesman told CJ: "As far as we are aware there are no plans for any of our suppliers to go into the facility." One of the site's attractions could be its ability to produce castings, but Komatsu UK ,which currently gets all of its castings from Komatsu, Brazil said: "It would not be cost effective."
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