A METAL fabrication company, which announced last week it was shedding up to 85 jobs, told workers in a memo that there were "no plans" for the facility to close.

The Tinsley Group's factory in Evenwood, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham, announced the redundancies last week, saying it was suffering due to overseas competition from low-cost economies.

Workers have said they are fearful about the factory's future.

But in a memo seen by The Northern Echo, sent to workers a week before the redundancies were announced, management said: "It transpires that there is significant speculation about the future of this business.

"There are no plans for this facility to close."

The notice goes on to say that the company is losing product volumes to its competitors, in particular due to intense competition from China, India and Eastern Europe, and this was not going to recede.

It said it had also "seriously harmed key customer relationships over the past 12 months, but was making progress in repairing the damage.

"The way forward is to produce quality product and deliver it on time, as failure to do so seriously impacts the customer," it said.

The company notice, from divisional operations director Duncan McDonald, also says it is actively seeking new work.

"There can be no absolute guarantees for what the future will hold, but it is incumbent on us all to continue along the path we have started to improve our competitiveness, as without this it will be infinitely more difficult to tackle the prevailing market conditions," it concludes.

Workers are being asked for voluntary redundancies before the compulsory process starts.

It is expected they will find out who will lose their jobs next week. Tinsley is believed to have recently lost a key contract because of overseas competition.

Stephen Thompkins, regional organiser for the GMB Union, said: "I guess these people who make boardroom-level decisions to send the work overseas don't think about the redundancies that inevitably follow at their suppliers. It is a shame."