MP Ian Liddell-Grainger has promised to ‘pull out all the stops’ in an effort to help 176 staff at a Somerset paper mill which will close next month.
Owner D S Smith has confirmed it is shutting Wansbrough Paper Mill in Watchet, ending 265 years of paper-making on the site.
The company says the aging plant has lost a major contract and it cannot justify the huge investment that would be necessary to raise product quality standards to meet the demands of the modern market, or to comply with stringent new pollution controls.
Mr Liddell-Grainger, Conservative member for Bridgwater and West Somerset, has been in talks with D S Smith since it warned of redundancies in August and has already been approaching other potential employers.
Chief among them is state-owned French energy company EDF, which is building Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, just a few miles along the coast from Watchet.
It’s set to be the biggest civil construction project in Europe and, said Mr Liddell-Grainger, could offer alternative work for some, at least, of the paper mill workers.
“To suddenly lose 176 well-paid jobs is not only devastating for the individual families concerned but is going to hit hard across the whole of the West Somerset economy where wage levels are generally low,” he said.
“While we can fully appreciate the economic realities which have brought this matter to a head it is a very hard blow for Watchet to bear. But I am determined to pull out all the stops to see what alternatives are out there.
“There is a world of difference between paper-making and construction but I am hopeful that within the huge workforce that Hinkley Point will require there will be positions for at least some members of the Wansbrough workforce which has gained a well-deserved reputation for dedication, loyalty and sheer hard work.”