Dozens of staff at Matrix, one of the largest employers in Brechin, have been told their jobs are at risk.
The business designs and manufactures parts for vehicle brakes and can trace its roots in the Angus town to 1939.
At an ‘all hands’ meeting at the factory yesterday, general manager Hamish Oag said manufacturing and production of parts at the factory was to cease.
The East Mill Road factory will continue as an assembly site.
It is understood that only a handful of management staff from the 93-strong workforce are exempt from the redundancy process.
Storm Babet flooding blamed
The flooding which engulfed Brechin during Storm Babet in October has been blamed for the decision.
The Matrix factory, just yards from Brechin Bridge, was engulfed with around four feet of water.
With several machines badly impacted, manufacturing has been halted since the storm.
Now the company’s management say it is not economically viable to repair the machines.
Workforce shock at Matrix Brechin redundancies
One Matrix worker said staff were shocked by the decision.
He added: “The staff were told the manufacturing would be coming back. Some of them had other opportunities back in October.
“Now we have been told all manufacturing and production of parts are to cease and the factory is to become a simple assembly operation producing a fraction of the current product range.
“The number of redundancies isn’t known but pretty much the whole factory is at risk.
“There are around 25 workers in the machine shop but there will also be a knock-on effect with office staff who support these functions.
“The machining is the skilled part of the business. They work to incredibly high tolerances.”
“The total number of jobs lost might be around 30, around a third of the workforce.”
The employee said the news has been made even harder to take after the efforts of workers to get back up and running after the flooding.
“Although being completely flooded out, the factory was back in production within two weeks,” he said.
“This was thanks to a clean-up conducted by the workforce many of whom now enter the New Year with a thanks from the company of being sacked.”
Brechin councillor Gavin Nicol said: “Matrix has always had a reputation as a good employer so jobs being at risk is a shock.
“They are a lot of jobs on the site so this is very concerning news.”
South Esk’s role in Brechin Matrix history
Among the firm’s major customers are the military and Toyota forklifts. Brakes made in Brechin can even be found on the New York Subway escalators.
Matrix describes itself as a Altra Industrial Motion company, which became rebranded as Warner Electric. The parent company merged with Regal Rexnord last year.
Warner Electric did not respond to a request for comment over the restructure.
Ironically the close proximity of the River South Esk is the main reason the factory set up in Brechin.
The company was established in 1939 by Sir Harry Harley, who chaired a Coventry engineering firm.
He recommended Angus as the host of a satellite factory to ensure armament production could continue, despite German bombing during the war.
He had regularly fished in the South Esk in the 1930s.
The site of Brechin’s old flax mill was transformed into a factory that made naval gun turrets and electro-hydraulic servo-mechanisms for anti-aircraft guns.
At the height of wartime production, what was then called Coventry Gauge and Tool employed 1,000 people, although many of the female workers were “demobbed” after the conflict, as the company switched its focus to commercial contracts.
In 1959, the factory began making power transmission products, with the introduction of mechanical clutches.
Into the 1960s, the company expanded its range to include brakes and couplings.
Following a takeover at the end of the decade, its name was changed to Matrix, which has endured, despite further changes of ownership.
Conversation