A LIGHTING company has confirmed it is to cut 85 jobs – less than a month after the official opening of its £28m plant.

Thorn’s factory and training academy, in Spennymoor, County Durham, was welcomed by, among others, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson who heralded it as creating a “durable legacy”

for the region.

The twin investment by Thorn’s Austrian parent company Zumtobel was said to be the biggest it had ever made.

Thorn employs about 700 staff at the new plant on the Green Lane Industrial Estate, having moved from its old factory at Merrington Lane.

The factory produces lights for customers including Wembley Stadium and Heathrow Airport’s Terminal Five.

Other customers include schools, hospitals, supermarkets and factories, and the plant became fully operational in early January after the last machinery was moved in over the Christmas period.

One member of staff at the factory said there was a lot of “bad feeling” over the cuts which are subject to consultation.

It is understood that of the 85 posts, 20 will come from the shopfloor and the rest in administration.

The worker said: “They have received millions of pounds in grants for this new factory after selling the other one to the council for housing land.

“It is no surprise because we were told that not all the people from the old site would be moving to the new one.

“But there is a lot of bad feeling given the state of affairs.”

Thorn’s public relations manager Hugh King said that the “very regrettable” decision reflected not only falling demand for Thorn light fittings, but also what was happening more generally in the global economy.

He said: “We have to adjust short-term to match capacities within the factory and this may result in manning levels being reduced by up to 85.

“Initially we are calling for volunteers, but the reality is that should we be unable to secure these, we will have to resort to compulsory redundancies.”

Responding to claims from workers that the company had boasted of being “recession proof”, Mr King said: “We cannot say that we are recession proof in the current climate.

“These are unprecedented times.

“However, the long-term situation is pretty strong. There is a lease agreement for the use of the building at Spennymoor for at least 26 years and the brand is well invested.”