BMW moves 150 jobs from Swindon

BMW is to transfer 150 jobs from its plant in Swindon, which makes the Mini, to the Cowley plant in Oxford.

The announcement comes after the company said it was axing 850 agency workers from the Oxford site.

All employees at the Swindon factory will be offered a transfer package, a spokeswoman for the carmaker confirmed.

The 1,000-strong workforce in Swindon is beginning an enforced one-week shutdown because of the drop in demand worldwide for cars.

Staff also took a month-long break at Christmas instead of a fortnight.

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Mini sales in the UK fell by more than 32% in December compared to the same month in 2007 and total UK car sales were down by 11% to 2,131,795 for 2008.

A retraining initiative aimed at people affected will start in Swindon on Tuesday.

There will also be two open days for Honda workers taking place at Swindon College on Tuesday and Thursday to provide information about future training courses.

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