Falkirk-based bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis said 160 Scottish jobs are at risk as the result of an “uneven playing field” in the sector.
The firm said it has launched a consultation process due to government zero-emission bus funding “disproportionately benefitting” foreign competitors with lower labour costs.
The company, owned by a Canadian parent firm, employs 1,950 people in the UK, with its biggest plant in Larbert, plus a UK supply chain employing a further 6,350 people.
The firm is calling for higher import duties on electric buses, so that it can compete with the higher pay and better conditions required under government contracts which help bus operators replace their fleets in the UK.
The company’s president Paul Davies said: “Competition in itself is healthy, but when taxpayer money is spent with little domestic industrial, economic or employment benefit and bus companies effectively are incentivised to buy from lower-security economies, it creates an incomprehensible dynamic and an uneven playing field.”
He added that the firm would “continue to do everything” to save and protect as many jobs as possible.
He said: “We will continue our dialogue with governments to identify potential solutions to level the playing field, strengthen our industry and drive investments in local jobs and domestic supply.”
Pn 20th September 2024 Timothy Graham Vance, Alan Michael Hudson and Dan Edkins of EY-Parthenon were appointed as joint administrators to eight UK trading ent
By Jessica Clark Published: 23:54 BST, 20 September 2024 | Updated: 00:08 BST, 21 September 2024
ONE of the UK’s biggest prison-builders has collapsed into administration.ISG — which has more than £1billion of government contracts — is the largest UK
Closure of the blast furnaces will lead to far more job losses than thoughtDeal between Tata Steel and Labour will see more than 4,000 workers axed