Staff morale low after rumours factory moving abroad (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Staff morale low after rumours factory moving abroad

A CIRENCESTER firm, which was controversially allowed to build a factory on a greenfield site on the edge of town, is rumoured to be relocating to another country.

British Autogard, which struggled in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, is said to be preparing for a move abroad.

Planners gave the firm permission to build its new factory at Siddington just six years ago, even though the site was not earmarked for development in the local plan.

They decided that safeguarding jobs and moving the factory away from its old Barton Lane site, which was in the middle of a residential area, were exceptional circumstances.

But an employee of the company, which manufactures torque control equipment, e-mailed the Standard to say the company was now relocating.

The worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said morale among staff is at an all-time low and urged the Standard to look into the matter.

They said: "None of the employees have been officially informed of this (move) but the evidence has been mounting.

"Never have I seen such low morale within the workforce."

British Autogard, which employs around 60 people, was hit hard by cancelled orders after the attack on the Twin Towers in New York.

The company was eventually forced to share its new factory with another firm, Cursey Technology, as it tried to cushion the blow.

Autoguard was then rocked three years ago by the death of its chairman Derek Gold, who threw himself from the roof of a friend's home, following mounting business pressures.

Rumours of the company's planned relocation have spread throughout the Cirencester community.

But when the Standard contacted British Autogard this week, managing director Michael Hutchings was unavailable and the firm's other directors declined to comment.

* Derek Gold's father originally founded British Autogard as GIB Precision, in London, but it was bombed out of its East End premises at the start of World War II and moved to Cirencester.

It continued to make parts for Spitfire and Hurricane fighter aircraft, some of which took part in the Battle of Britain.