Type
Closure
Country
United Kingdom
Region
North West; Greater Manchester; Greater Manchester North
Location of affected unit(s)
Manchester
Sector
Transportation / Storage
Warehousing And Support Activities For Transportation, Postal And Courier Activities
Warehousing And Support Activities For Transportation
52.2 - Support activities for transportation

327 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
29 November 2007
Employment effect (start)
Foreseen end date
31 March 2008

Description

Ringway Handling Services Ltd, a firm that handles baggage at airports, has announced that it is to close its operations at Manchester Airport with the loss of 327 jobs. The job losses and closure will be implemented by the end of March 2008, and management at the firm have attributed the closure to financial problems that the firm has faced. A spokesman for Manchester Airport said the baggage handling market was very competitive. The spokesman also stated:

‘Many airlines have multi-site deals across the world with global handling agents, making it difficult for smaller companies like Ringway's baggage handling business to compete.’

‘Throughout this difficult time, we are working closely with the trades unions and employees offering every support possible to our people, ensuring that they are treated with compassion and dignity’.

‘We will also endeavour to redeploy the affected people into other areas of the business and assist them to get work with other employers on site.’

The announcement of the closure of the site follows Ringway initially announcing 188 job losses at Manchester Airport in October 2007. A 90-day consultation process with employees that is statutory under UK labour law followed the announcement, before Ringway announced the dismissal of its 327 employees at the end of January 2008.


Sources

  • 28 January 2008: BBC News
  • 29 November 2007: BBC News

Citation

Eurofound (2007), Manchester Airport, Closure in United Kingdom, factsheet number 66083, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/66083.