Riding helmet maker Charles Owen announce 40 proposed job losses

Wrexham based riding helmets manufacturer Charles Owen have said they are set to make redundancies.

The company, which employed 142 people, consulted with employee representatives regarding a proposal that 42 staff members be made redundant to enable it to continue to operate in increasingly challenging conditions due to the coronavirus crisis.

The outcome of the collective consultation was a modified proposal that there be 40 compulsory redundancies, and individual consultation with affected employees is on-going.

CEO of Charles Owen, Matt Bullock, said redundancies were regrettable but, sadly, unavoidable.

He said: “The coronavirus outbreak has obviously impacted hugely on the economy, businesses and individuals.

“For our part, we must not only adjust to accommodate working practices in accordance with distancing and other safety measures, but to operate as efficiently as possible in a challenging economic environment.

“A big positive is that we have been bringing workers off furlough and building up our operations again, and, unlike many companies, we do remain very optimistic about the future of our business.

“But at the same time, we see a need to make efficiencies in our staff structure, and need to re-scale the business to meet the current economic realities in the marketplace.

“Unfortunately, this means that we are proposing a significant reduction in headcount – 40 job losses – with the notices of dismissal to be issued before the end of July.

“We have been consulting with employee representatives and individual employees in respect of our proposals and are ensuring that all necessary legal procedures are followed.”

Charles Owen are based on Croesfoel Industrial Park and have history of manufacturing military helmets for the British Army before transitioning into the equestrian market.