Alsthom to close Strand Rd plant in Preston

[Ploughman]

Just seen this on the BBC news pages.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-41753242

Manufacturer Alstom is to close its Preston site ending 120 years of rail production and maintenance in the city.

Wonder what Roger Ford's comments will be?

Not seen it posted anywhere on here.

 

[najaB]

From the article:

"We keep hearing the hype about the so-called Northern Powerhouse so why are aerospace and train manufacturers in the north shedding jobs by the hundreds?" he added.

Six letters, first is 'B' last is 'T'...

 

[furnessvale]

From the articleix letters, first is 'B' last is 'T'...

Despite the fact they are moving to a brand new facility in Widnes?

 

[najaB]

Despite the fact they are moving to a brand new facility in Widnes?

It still represents downsizing and consolidation though.

 

[furnessvale]

It still represents downsizing and consolidation though.

Fair enough, B....T is responsible for Alstom building a new facility in Widnes.
I'll settle for that!

 

[Steveman]

From the articleix letters, first is 'B' last is 'T'...

Eight letters first is B and last is S.

Alstom have had this planned for years as they are only tenants in Preston, your scaremongering is misplaced.

 

[najaB]

Fair enough, B....T is responsible for Alstom building a new facility in Widnes.

Given the glacial pace of the UK planning system, the decision to invest in the facility at Windes likely pre-dates June 2016 by some margin (the thread discussing it was started in November 2015). The decision to shut the Preston facility is likely much more recent, and will have been made in light of subsequent political and financial development.

 

[najaB]

Alstom have had this planned for years as they are only tenants in Preston, your scaremongering is misplaced.

Note that the qoute in the article doesn't refer solely to Alstom's move from Preston.

 

[Lankyline]

Amazing history of this site, producing everything from steam & electric trams to electric shunters for the army in Flanders, right through to work for the prototype Deltic and all sorts of electro-mechanical work/engines etc. Not forgetting also, the famous Dick,Kerr ladies football team.
My late grandfather worked at Dick,Kerr’s / English electric as an engineer and would have been saddened to see this.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

It still represents downsizing and consolidation though.

Still very little to do with Brexit and everything to do with neo-liberalism, an ideology with downsizing at its core.

 

[najaB]

Still very little to do with Brexit and everything to do with neo-liberalism, an ideology with downsizing at its core.

That wouldn't explain the original investment in new facilities in the case of Alstom.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

That wouldn't explain the original investment in new facilities in the case of Alstom.

But it would explain the downsizing and consolidation, which was the point I was making. Also something that B****t won't make the slightest bit of difference to.

 

[najaB]

So, we have two theories, one explains half the observed data, the other explains both halves of the data set.

I'm sticking with my theory until something better comes along.

 

[The_Engineer]

The decision to shut the Preston facility is likely much more recent, and will have been made in light of subsequent political and financial development.

I speak as an employee of Alstom at the Preston site between 1997 and 2012. Around 2001 this site, along with other Alstom UK sites, was sold to property company St Mowden, and was leased back with a lease that expires in 2018. Since 2003, when the manufacture of traction equipment for new build trains ceased there, Preston site has had a lot of unused capacity. Only the parts and renovation businesses remain there, which are transferring to Widnes.

2018 as a crunch date has therefore been known of for a long time. Around 2010 St Mowden sought outline planning permission for the Preston site for housing development. Alstom reassured its employees at the time that they should not worry, the site would remain for Alstom businesses until 2018. Alstom did not want to retain Preston site beyond 2018 as the buildings, despite a major revamp in the mid 90s, are in a poor state of repair and would require a major investment to continue in their present usage. Plus, St Mowden probably would not have agreed to a new lease since, as a property developer, they are more keen to develop the site with housing and recoup their original investment with a handsome return.

Alstom Widnes site was always developed with the Preston site closure in mind, but the Widnes site is seen as an expansion as it already has train refurbishment/building facilities, plus there is space and outline planning for adding more workshop space within the site when required. The merger of the Alstom and Siemens rail business could mean more potential uses of the Widnes site....

Though I am sad to see the Alstom site at Preston closing, it really does not now meet the present or future needs of the business. Its location really precludes its use as a modern new build assembly plant for trains.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Can I draw a comparison to the former British Aerospace site in Woodford, which is not so very many miles from where I live. Executive housing on that site is now the order of the day.

 

[Busaholic]

Can anyone confirm or, alternatively, deny my personal recollection of the name Dick, Kerr, the precursors of Alstom at Strand Road in Preston, as being attached to the steam turbine (?) of at least one of the Woolwich Free Ferries in London which plied their trade across the Thames into the early 1960s: one was called the 'Will Crooks' from memory. I do seem to remember a plate bearing this name, and then finding the same name outside a factory in Strand Road, Preston, in 1969 when I first started exploring that area, having married into it, as it were. I do know I felt a frisson on seeing the name again, on realising it was still extant.

 

[Shenandoah]

Some history of the company.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick,_Kerr_&_Co.

 

[Busaholic]

Some history of the company.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick,_Kerr_&_Co.

Unfortunately, as so often with Wikipedia in my experience, it doesn't answer the question I posed.

 

[Mikey C]

I speak as an employee of Alstom at the Preston site between 1997 and 2012. Around 2001 this site, along with other Alstom UK sites, was sold to property company St Mowden, and was leased back with a lease that expires in 2018. Since 2003, when the manufacture of traction equipment for new build trains ceased there, Preston site has had a lot of unused capacity. Only the parts and renovation businesses remain there, which are transferring to Widnes.

2018 as a crunch date has therefore been known of for a long time. Around 2010 St Mowden sought outline planning permission for the Preston site for housing development. Alstom reassured its employees at the time that they should not worry, the site would remain for Alstom businesses until 2018. Alstom did not want to retain Preston site beyond 2018 as the buildings, despite a major revamp in the mid 90s, are in a poor state of repair and would require a major investment to continue in their present usage. Plus, St Mowden probably would not have agreed to a new lease since, as a property developer, they are more keen to develop the site with housing and recoup their original investment with a handsome return.

Alstom Widnes site was always developed with the Preston site closure in mind, but the Widnes site is seen as an expansion as it already has train refurbishment/building facilities, plus there is space and outline planning for adding more workshop space within the site when required. The merger of the Alstom and Siemens rail business could mean more potential uses of the Widnes site....

Though I am sad to see the Alstom site at Preston closing, it really does not now meet the present or future needs of the business. Its location really precludes its use as a modern new build assembly plant for trains.

i.e. they are moving the jobs to a brand new facility with potential for growth.

Typical knee jerk nonsense by the local MP, while individuals may not want to move to Widnes
a) It's transferring jobs, not losing them
b) Widnes is still very much in the Northern Powerhouse area

The sad bit was the loss of the manufacturing jobs in 2003. Would it be fair to say that Preston was the innocent party that suffered due to the failure of the trains coming out of Washwood Heath? if the Junipers and Coradia diesels had worked properly, I imagine there would have been a lot more work for all Alstom's UK factories, and Alstom not Siemens would have been the main UK competitor for Bombardier.

 

[The_Engineer]

Would it be fair to say that Preston was the innocent party that suffered due to the failure of the trains coming out of Washwood Heath?

In short - YES. Preston did carry out some design and assembly of equipment for overseas contracts. But - not unsurprisingly - this was soon transferred to the French factories.

if the Junipers and Coradia diesels had worked properly, I imagine there would have been a lot more work for all Alstom's UK factories, and Alstom not Siemens would have been the main UK competitor for Bombardier.

Probably..... The trains you noted suffered from a cost reduction exercise imposed by HQ in France, the UK design being very adversely affected.

As for jobs being transferred, a few certainly have been. But the numbers have been significantly reduced by voluntary redundancy.

There's no doubt that the new Widnes factory will allow for a future expansion and has in mind HS2 build in particular. It will be interesting to see how this pans out with the Alstom-Siemens transportation merger, as Siemens have plans for a large assembly facility near Goole......