Massey Ferguson factory to shut with 1,000 job losses
A giant American corporation yesterday blamed Britain's failure to join the euro for its decision to shut its UK tractor factory with the loss about 1,000 jobs.
The decision was seized on by trade unions and euro lobbyists who said it showed the pressing need for the UK to join the single currency.
Agco said its plant in Coventry, which makes Massey Ferguson tractors, would close by next summer and production would shift to its factories in France and Brazil. It said the move would cut costs by "eliminating the negative impact of currency factors".
"Over 85 per cent of the facility production was exported, which placed the sterling-based product under severe competitive pressure. The strategic value of [Brazil] for export business is derived from lower product costs and a favourable currency," it said.
Ironically the announcement came the day after the pound hit its lowest level against the euro for 32 months, boosting hopes that Britain could join soon. The head of Agco, Robert Ratliff, warned two years ago that the UK should sign up to the euro to make British-based manufacturing more competitive.
Yesterday Michael Cashman, MEP for the West Midlands, said: "This devastating news brings home the cost of our isolation from the euro in the starkest possible terms."
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