Clwyd South Assembly Member Ken Skates has vowed to do everything he can to help find a buyer for an under-threat company in his constituency.
Welsh Labour AM Mr Skates is in talks with the administrators at Dobson & Crowther in Llangollen, which made 55 of its 79-strong workforce redundant on Wednesday.
He said the company was forced to restructure in 2014 after the loss of its biggest customer, and was later let down when its main supplier went bust.
Mr Skates said he had a ‘positive’ conversation with financial services firm Baker Tilly Ltd on Thursday and visited the site today (Friday) to talk to staff.
He said: “I’ve spoken with the administrators and the workforce and assured them I will help in any way I can to find a buyer and a new employer for people in Llangollen.
“Dobson & Crowther has a brand new, state-of-the-art factory on a prime site, so it’s a very attractive proposition. There seems to be an encouraging level of interest already.”
Mr Skates has also secured an assurance that details of the 55 employees laid off this week be passed to any buyer.
He added: “This week’s developments are a real blow to Llangollen and the wider area, but the most important people here are the employees and their families. I will work with the town and county councils, the Chamber of Trade – whoever I need to – to try to secure the best outcome possible under the circumstances.
“This has been a terrible time for staff, who have shown incredible loyalty to the company over many years. Recent events demonstrate clearly why we must continue to work relentlessly to create and safeguard jobs in the Dee Valley.”
The only problem with Ken Skates' remark, “I’ve spoken with the administrators and the workforce and assured them I will help in any way I can to find a buyer and a new employer for people in Llangollen", is that he has to retriple his efforts in respect of what has become the debacle of the old printworks/former Sainsbury's site. The justification for the Dobson & Crowther build on a greenfield site was that it would secure 120 jobs. The justification for the supermarket site was that it would create 130 jobs. We now have a situation where Dobson & Crowther, having reduced their workforce by a third, now look likely to shed the rest of their labourforce. So that's minus 250 jobs for the area, not just the 55 at Dobson & Crowther in your article above.
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