Premdor: Life after redundancy (From Halstead Gazette)

Premdor: Life after redundancy

9:00am Friday 1st January 2010

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Life after redundancy has been a struggle for three former factory workers who are still unemployed.

The Halstead Gazette caught up with former Premdor workers to see how they had fared after the window manufacturer closed its Sible Hedingham branch in September.

Factory floor supervisor Stephen Wiffen had worked for the firm for 33 years, while his partner Sandra Deal had spent nine years there fixing hinges to frames.

Since their redundancy, the Castle Hedingham couple have been cold calling factories, asking if there were any vacancies.

They have also been frustrated with the Jobcentre in Braintree.

Ms Deal, 54, said: “You look on the machines to see what jobs are available and the ones down as local are in London and Cambridge.

“It’s ridiculous."

Their colleague Andrew Lynch of Brook Meadow, Sible Hedingham, had been a machine operator.

Mr Lynch, 47, would have applied for a role as Father Christmas near Ipswich but said he could not get there and back on public transport.

He said: “I haven’t got transport so I’m relying on public transport which is 8am to 6pm and outside that you have had it."

The Premdor factory was established in 1899 and, at its peak, employed nearly 700 people.

The company describes itself as a leading UK joinery firm and continues to operate from its head office base in Barnsley.

Sandra Roach, spokeswoman for the Department of Work and Pensions, said: “Local jobs are seen first (Braintree), this widens to jobs in the surrounding area (London, Cambridge).”

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