Walsall foundry firm Chamberlin & Hill today announced 35 job cuts as it put its remaining staff on a four-day week to cope with a major slump in orders from car company customers.
The Chuckery Road plant, which makes <link http: www.foundry-planet.com _top external-link-new-window>castings for turbochargers and other components, said it was facing a sharp deterioration in its markets supplying automotive groups such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz as they in turn slash car production.
Despite announcing rising sales and profits for the first half of this year, the Chamberlin group said it was now starting to feel the impact of the global slowdown.
As a result it was cutting costs, shedding 35 jobs at the <link http: www.foundry-planet.com _top external-link-new-window>foundry and introducing a four-day week.
Chamberlin stated it has increased its sales in the first half of this year by 20 per cent, to £23.5 million. This meant the firm had been able to recover the soaring cost of its raw materials, as well as higher energy costs.
At the same time underlying operating profit was up 33 per cent to £905,000.
But chairman Tom Brown warned: “We expect the second half of the year to be challenging.”
Chamberlin also owns two engineering businesses, Fred Duncombe in Cannock and Petrel in Birmingham.
