Lack of “foresight” by bosses of a troubled wind turbine manufacturer is responsible for the firm’s current redundancy woes, according to an industry insider.
Scottish firm CS Wind raised the alarm in October that it was set to shed up to 70 staff due to “gaps” in the company’s order book.
It was later revealed that up to 80 jobs were at risk at the firm, as CS Wind handed redundancy to 28 staff.
A source close to the Campbeltown firm, who did not want to be named, described a chaotic situation in which a number of staff have been summarily dismissed by bosses “without an acceptable notice period”.
It is also understood that the firm needs a make-or-break deal with Danish wind firm Orsted to survive.
The source called the potential deal – for one of Orsted’s giant Hornsea projects in the Southern North Sea – a “final throw of the dice” for CS Wind.
He added: “It seemed like there was a bright future for the company but it then collapsed within a couple of weeks, which is a shame because they have an ideal facility in Campbeltown.
“It’s really frustrating that bosses didn’t use better foresight in laying out a pipeline of contracts because it was all hands on deck when orders were coming in.”
CS Wind employed around 94 people at its facility in Argyll on the west coast of Scotland.
The firm made a £27 million investment in the site in 2016 and reported pre-tax profits in excess of £7m in 2018.
It recently completed orders for the Moray East Offshore Wind Farm in the Outer Moray Firth and ScottishPower Renewables East Anglia One Wind Farm.
The firm also signed a five-year deal with EDF Renewables in 2016 to provide wind turbine parts to “all its onshore wind farm projects in the UK”.
CS Wind did not respond when contacted for comment.
Charlie Macdonald, Unite regional industrial officer, confirmed last night that the union will meet with Scottish energy minister Paul Wheelhouse next week to try and resolve the situation.
He said: “We need a stable renewables industry in Scotland and this company – the only in the UK who manufactures onshore and offshore wind towers – should be an example to to other countries of what we can do here.”
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