More trouble ahead

Troubling news in the Sunday Times this morning, where car unions estimate that up to 25% of jobs in the UK industry will be lost in the downturn.

Given that there are around 25,000 employed in the automotive sector in Wales, that could mean around 6,000 jobs lost in that sector alone over the next 12 months.

Also, it is worth noting that the First Minister, just over a year ago, was suggesting that Tata - the owners of Ford and Jaguar - would soon be moving their engineering plants to Wales. With Tata now wholly dependent on a bailout from the UK Government to save both these companies, that is now unlikely to happen (even if it were ever the case).

Update: More worryingly is the exclusive news in the Indy on Sunday that Tata - which also owns Corus - may quit the UK unless regulations on carbon emissions are changed. With thousands of workers employed at Llanwern, Port Talbot and Shotton, this news could not come at a worse time. Hopefully, this is just posturing by the company for support with carbon-reducing technologies but it should not be taken lightly at all.

Comments

Anonymous said…

and what does Rhodri Morgan do in the time of crisis - says that unemployment was higher under the Tories when he became an MP in 1987. Pathetic

December 14, 2008 9:54 pm

Anonymous said…

and why is the WAG "investing" £50m from its budget this year on arrangements for the "flu pandemic"?

Do they know something we don't know?

Mr Logicmanblue

December 15, 2008 11:34 pm

THE IMPORTANCE OF FRANCHISING

When we talk about start-ups and entrepreneurship, rarely do we discuss the potential of franchising not only as a way of establishing new ventures in the economy but also as a method of growing existing businesses. According to the British Franchising Association, franchising is the granting of a licence by one person (the franchisor) to another (the franchisee), which entitles the franchisee to own and operate their own business under the brand, systems and proven business model of the franchisor. The franchisee also receives initial training and ongoing support, comprising all the elements necessary to establish a previously untrained person in the business. This enables individuals to start their own businesses without having to develop their own ideas and utilising an existing brand and established market. Of course, whilst each franchise business is owned and operated by the franchisee, the franchisor controls the quality and standards of the way in which the business is

THE MANUFACTURING STRATEGY FOR WALES

Last night, I received the following comment on the previous post relating to a piece I had written back in early 2007 about the state of the manufacturing sector in Wales. "Dylan, you seem to be ignoring the fact that manufacturers in Wales have written the manufacturing strategy. Small and large manufacturers, all represented at the Manufacturing forum, have co-written this strategy. WAG has recently supported this strategy and have funded a co-ordinator with resources. Manufactures are happy with this progress as they are following the strategy they wanted. I know that the Conservatives have attacked the strategy as they seem to think that WAG wrote the strategy. They couldn't be more wrong. The Manufacturing Strategy was written by manufacturers, for manufacturers and is supported by WAG. If you don't agree with this, then I can invite you to the next Manufacturing Forum and you can explain to the manufacturers how their strategy is wrong....I appreciate that there is

INTRAPRENEURSHIP

Whilst we often consider entrepreneurship to be associated predominantly with new start-ups, larger firms - in order to compete effectively in fast-changing global markets - are adopting more innovative and enterprising approaches to management within their organisations. One of these approaches is the development of entrepreneurship within a corporate environment (or intrapreneurship). Research has shown that intrapreneurship is not easy, and there are considerable differences between an intrapreneurial and a traditional corporate culture, with the latter having an emphasis on a culture and reward system that tends to favour caution in decision-making. For example, large businesses rarely operate on a "gut-feeling" for the market-place, as many entrepreneurs do. Instead, large amounts of data are gathered before any major business decision is made, not only for use in rational business decisions, but also for use as justification if the decision does not produce optimu

PROFESSOR DYLAN JONES-EVANS

Search This Blog