Face of Nation : Just 50 jobs will be retained at the firm – the last UK-owned bus manufacturer. The administrators are meeting unions later on Thursday, amid calls for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to intervene to aid staff.
Wrightbus suffered cash flow problems and had sought investment or a new owner. TUV councillor Timothy Gaston said Mid and East Antrim Council had contacted the prime minister, the secretary of state and the chairman of the NI Select Affairs Committee “to again raise how vital Wrightbus is to Ballymena”. He added: “We want this to be recognised at a UK government level.
“Our PM has committed previously to do all he can to save Wrightbus. It’s now time for action. Mr Gaston said the council will have a dedicated website to help people access services, support and information and have organised a redundancy clinic for employees on Friday.
George Brash, of the Unite union, said that Boris Johnson recently told the House of Commons he would do everything for the future of the company. “We are calling him out on that comment and those promises that he made to this workforce, and this Ballymena community,” Mr Brash said. “He needs to stand up and intervene as he said he would.”
Steven Reynolds, chair of Ballymena Business Improvement District, said that the town was going through “difficult times”. “It will have an impact, [but] let’s remember Wrightbus is in administration not liquidation,” he said “Every day is a new day, a new opportunity to do a deal and that may still be on the table.”
Deloitte, the firm’s administrator, said the lack of a buyer for Wrightbus had caused the redundancies. The Wright family, who founded Wrightbus in 1946, said “global changes from diesel to electric in bus technology have caused a sharp decline in demand for buses in the UK”.
In a statement, the family said that it moved work from its facility in Malaysia to Ballymena in a bid to secure local jobs. “These factors have resulted in significant losses at Wrightbus which our family have been covering for a over a year. “It simply became impossible to sustain that level of support.”
Some former members of staff, who have been working in England, say the future is now uncertain. It is understood there are about nine former staff members, normally based in Northern Ireland, waiting to return home.
Jonathan McKay from Cullybackey has been working at the Wrightbus factory in Ballymena for the past 12 years. He is currently in Taunton, in south-west England.
