Talks held over caravan job cuts

About 1,000 caravan workers have either lost jobs or had their hours cut

Council and trade union bosses in Hull are meeting to draw up plans to help almost 700 people who have lost jobs in the city's caravan industry this month.

Several caravan and holiday home manufacturers have recently announced redundancies amid a slump in orders.

City council leader Carl Minns is meeting officers from the Ucatt union to thrash out a strategy to find new jobs for affected staff.

"It's about finding out what we can do to help the workforce," said Mr Minns.

This week the caravan-making arm of Cosalt Holiday Homes announced plans to close its Stoneferry Road factory in Hull with the loss of 286 jobs.

The news followed job cuts from other companies in the Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire area, which produces about 80% of the UK's caravans.

There are clearly short-term problems...but I don't think we are seeing the demise of caravan manufacturing in the area Carl Minns, leader of Hull City Council

In October alone, Swift Group said it was shedding 200 jobs, Willerby Holiday Homes made 99 staff redundant and Atlas Caravans has cut 84 posts.

Mr Minns told BBC News: "If you take into account other workers who have been told to work fewer hours, this is adversely affecting about 1,000 people in the city.

"My meeting with the union today is the first chance I've had to talk to them about what we in the public sector can do to help the workforce.

"Obviously there is a lot of concern here about how we deal with this.

"It's not going to be easy but we have experience of this when the Birds Eye factory closed last year and we found a lot of the affected workers other jobs."

He said the council was working closely with regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, which had offered to fund a job-matching service for redundant caravan workers.

"There are clearly short-term problems caused by the credit crunch and general economic picture but I don't think we are seeing the demise of caravan manufacturing in the area," said Mr Minns.

"I think the industry on the whole is in a good position and once we are over these economic difficulties it will pick up again."

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