Workers at TAIT factory in Haverhill face uncertainty as company restructures

Employees at the Haverhill site of a globally-renowned company face an uncertain few weeks after it began a period of consultation over organisational changes that could lead to job losses.

The consultation period, which is expected to last for at least 30 to 45 days, began today at the TAIT site in Iceni Way, part of The Ridge industrial park.

The company, which specialises in creating live experience environments, only moved into the brand new 100,000sqft facility in April, having previously been in Homefield Road.

One employee, who asked to remain anonymous, contacted the Echo to say that ‘nobody had a clue’ about the changes until the workforce was called into a meeting in the staff canteen.

They said: “Some people have been there years of their lives grafting for that company and they didn’t even warn us.

“For a company that boasts about how much they care about their employees that is a disgrace.”

A statement issued by TAIT said: “As part of TAIT’s global commitment to operational excellence, innovation, and growth, we are currently undertaking some internal reorganisation to optimise our footprint across the UK, to support our best-in-class delivery to clients and customers.

“Over the coming months we will concentrate the majority of our teams in the UK at our TAIT Haverhill and TAIT Wakefield locations.

“This will include bringing our existing electrical manufacturing capabilities to TAIT’s new state-of-the-art 100,000sqft facility in Haverhill.

“We will also relocate some machining and assembly capabilities from TAIT Haverhill

to be co-located with existing machining capabilities in TAIT Wakefield.

“In 2024 we will close our office in Neasden and will open a new client-focused space in Kings Cross, London.”

Mark Dakin, managing director, TAIT Haverhill said: “This updated UK footprint

will give our teams the opportunity to share their deep knowledge right across the live experience industry – from Entertainment Parks to Cruise Ships, to Theatre and Rock n Roll.

“We are dedicated to our teams and our work and are now in discussions with employees that are affected by these changes to explore all options, which may include opportunities to relocate to other TAIT facilities in the UK.”

Adam Davis, TAIT Group CEO, said: “As a global organisation we have recently made a significant financial investment in TAIT Haverhill, and we are committed to developing the great potential of this site.

“We believe the community built by bringing more of our teams – from design and engineering to project management and fabrication, and beyond – together in Haverhill and Wakefield will position us to create a dynamic environment for our teams and deliver excellence to our clients.”

In a further statement, TAIT added: “If redundancies occur, we will of course offer redundancy payments as is right and required by law, but we are committed to exploring all available options including relocation and redeployment into other roles.”

TAIT said it employed about 110 people in Haverhill, of which about 20 per cent would be impacted by the operational changes.

The firm added: “We fully recognise that this is a challenging time and asks a lot from everyone, especially those whose livelihoods and families are impacted. We have not taken these decisions lightly and are deeply invested in Haverhill and the success of all of our teams.”