Electronics firm cuts workforce

An electrornics factory in the north-east of England has announced up to 100 jobs are to be lost.

Europa Magnetics Corporation (EMC) makes floppy computer disks and recordable CD-Roms, for the UK and European markets, at its factory in Cramlington, Northumberland.

It employs about 440 people but now a quarter of them are to go, because of a drop in demand for its products.

Ronnie Campbell, MP for the Blyth Valley constituency where the factory is based, said: "It is 100 jobs, which is a lot.

"There might be more if companies in the Far East, which have cheaper labour, keep on dumping their products in Europe.

Three plants

"We have survived before, and have lost jobs in the clothing industry, but will have to get on with it. We will survive."

The Taiwanese-owned company has three separate manufacturing plants on Cramlington's Nelson industrial estate.

The union Amicus has said it will do all it can to minimise the number of redundancies, after management issued a formal 90-day consultation notice.

EMC was set up in Cramlington in 1993 with the help of a £6.2m Government regional aid grant.