Fresh hope in jobs-hit Bridgend

Sony was one of the firms to be hit by job cuts

Work has begun on a new industrial development in Bridgend which backers hope will create up to 200 new jobs in south Wales.

Nine industrial units costing £4m are being built on the Bridgend Industrial Estate.

The Bridgend area has been hit by hundreds of recent job losses, including 650 at Sony's TV plants.

The new units' developers said they believed demand for small to medium sized units was still high in the area.

'Vote of confidence'

Insight, the company behind the York Park development, said it hoped the units, totalling 64,000 sq ft, hopes it will be completed in December 2005.

The £4m development is supported by Objective One grant assistance.

John Parling, of Insight, said: "We believe there is the demand in the marketplace for such a development and are confident of filling all the units very quickly.

"It is very much a vote of confidence for Bridgend, which we believe is an area that has a lot to offer prospective employers and investors."

Downturn in demand

Bridgend has suffered from heavy job losses in recent months.

In June, electronics giant Sony announced it was cutting 400 jobs at Bridgend and another 250 jobs at its nearby Pencoed assembly plant.

The losses were blamed on the downturn in demand for traditional televisions.

On the same day, it was announced that nearly 200 jobs would be lost with the closure of the nearby Altoid sweets factory.

Weeks later, workers at two furniture factories were told that 238 jobs would be lost at the Pendragon and Contour Mobel factories, part of the Christie Tyler group in Bridgend.