Contract brings relief to workers

A £500,000 contract has brought more security to staff at a Derby factory.

There had been fears over jobs at the Remploy plant after some production moved to Eastern Europe.

Although the company insisted there would be no compulsory redundancies, there was still a problem finding work for staff in the new year.

The firm has now secured a contract to make pregnancy support pillows. But spokesman John Waterhouse said the company still needed more work.

"Whilst we've been very successful winning our first contract, the reality is that maybe a third to a half of the workforce will be involved in this so we've still got to go out and get more work, we've still got to ensure that all our people are employed and are kept fully occupied," he said.

Remploy is the UK's largest employer of disabled people and operates 83 factories, predominately in manufacturing.