Engine firm cuts 78 jobs

A famous Stafford engine-making business is shedding almost 80 jobs in a further blow for the local manufacturing industry.

The economic downturn has been blamed for the move at Perkins Engines, which exports its products around the world and has had a presence in Stafford for almost 150 years. Perkins Engines has confirmed that 78 temporary workers were being released from its Tixall Road factory in response to economic conditions that have impacted on demand for its diesel engines.

Perkins spokeswoman Annette Johnson said the move was needed to safeguard the firm's future.

"We regret this action is necessary, however, it is ultimately in the long-term interests of our business," she said.

"Our focus is on making decisions and taking actions that will best position the company for long-term success and profitability during the current global recession."

In January, Perkins announced it was axing about 450 jobs at is main Peterborough site. The redundancies involved 100 full-time office roles and 350 hourly-paid workers. The firm said then it was considering launching a voluntary redundancy programme for the remaining hourly-paid employees but the move did not affect the Stafford site, where the firm has 300 employees.

The Stafford factory was formerly Dorman Diesels and was bought by Perkins in 1994. The company now specialises in the manufacture of marine engines for craft including canal barges and narrowboats, and also makes generators. But it can trace its roots back 140 years to when founder W H Dorman started the firm in 1870.

The company, which employed 1,600 people at its peak, has since seen many changes, including the absorption of Stafford-based locomotive manufacturer W G Bagnall and Dorman's takeover in 1959 by the English Electric, which is when and later by General Electric Company.

The English Electric takeover also saw the firm change its official name from W H Dorman Limited to EE (Dorman Diesels) Limited, but it has been known locally simply as Dorman Diesels for many years.

This week's announcement comes after waves of motoring and manufacturing industry job losses in the Stafford area in recent months, including hundreds of redundancies at Uttoxeter-based JCB.