LOSS OF SHAPLANDS A SHOCKING BLOW TO NORTH DEVON ECONOMY
April 6, 2009 10:34 AM
'This is a shocking blow' says Nick Harvey, 'Shapland and Petter, as most local people still think of it, has been a vital part of Barnstaple's landscape - economically and looming large on the riverbank - for longer than anyone can remember.
'My first thoughts are for the 185 people who are losing their jobs. It is a bitter blow when things are as difficult as they are right now. Many of them have great skills but the fear is that they may struggle to find a ready taker for them.
'The parent company is a long way from North Devon and may have decided to concentrate on its plants in Nottingham, Sheffield and Birmingham - sadly we are often vulnerable down in the West Country to this sort of thinking.
'I hear the union has said that the Government could have helped the order book if they had invested more in public projects during the recession. They may well have a point. The £12.5 billion VAT cut did not do the economy as much good as investment in public projects could have done.'
(These comments were first published in North Devon Journal, 2 April 2009)
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