News

Trailer manufacturers are facing up to a mixed future as the economic downturn continues to bite.

Peterborough-based trailer-maker Lawrence David says it cannot rule out introducing a four-day working week for staff as demand has dropped off. Director Alan Jeffs tells CM that the option to cut staff working time by 20% has already been discussed, along with other possibilities to address the fall in work load.

Jeffs says  the company has previously relied on flexible agency employment as demand has changed, but the downturn in the economy means more drastic decisions may need to be taken.

He says: "It's something we have considered, as have a lot of people. In the current climate we are all aware that times are difficult. The demands are a lot less than they were six months ago. We needed to do plans for the work load and the implications on the workforce."

Meanwhile, Northern-Ireland-based SDC reveals it has cut its workforce by 30% since the downturn with nearly 50 redundancies. From its plants in Toomebridge, Co Antrim and Mansfield, the company can produce 126 trailers a week at full capacity, but this month it is actually making closer to 60.

Sales director Paul Bratton says: "We are fighting for everything we can get at the moment".At Mansfield, where the company has the capacity to make 40 curtainsiders, six box vans and  five tippers a week, it is now making 30, three and two respectively.

At Don-Bur, marketing manager Richard Owens says: "We have a very strong order book although we have noticed a decline in new enquiries, we have enough work to keep us going for a long time to come."