Prysmian UK’s Fibre Optic Cable Workers in Hampshire Threaten Strike
Italy-based Prysmian, which specialises in the global manufacture and supply of fibre optic broadband cables (inc. related kit), is reportedly being threatened with strike action over plans to cut 40 jobs and shift their only UK HQ in Bishopstoke (Hampshire, England) to Romania.
The company, which primarily uses the site to produce cables for Openreach (BT) and a few other network operators, first opened its 46-acre manufacturing base in Bishopstoke during 1967, and it soon became their UK headquarters. The site is still said to be profitable, but Prysmian now appears to want to reduce labour costs and move production for cables to Romania.
Around 250 people are employed at the factory, with the telecoms department, which produces fibre optic cables, being the one that is under threat. The move to “scrap [the] only department of its kind in UK” has angered staff, with Unite (union) saying the workers are set to begin a consultative ballot for industrial action over the plans.
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Sharon Graham, Unite General Secretary, said:
“Hugley profitable Prysmian’s disgraceful plans are the ugly and irresponsible face of corporate greed. It admits its Bishopstoke operations are successful, yet it plans to throw loyal and hardworking staff under the bus to squeeze out as much extra cash as it can.
Prysmian’s Bishopstoke workforce have Unite’s total backing in fighting against these abhorrent plans.”
Unite are also understood to be lobbying BT to step in and demand that its cables are produced in the UK, although it’s unclear how much mileage they’ll get out of that approach. We have contacted Prysmian for a comment.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Increased energy costs increased employer national insurance payments is it any wonder they want to move production
The effect of increased NICs when combined with lowering the threshold is actually massive, it’s an extra 2K per average member of staff for us. If it was boom times it’d be livable but really it’s not a time where we can expand our staffing budget so we have to make folks redundant just to pay for the extra NI.
It’s the kind of change that is probably “The straw that breaks the camels back” for companies like this that have the choice of moving the workforce to cheaper locations. Saving 6% of staff costs is not nothing in a 5% net profit margin business.
Might be true, except…
> It admits its Bishopstoke operations are successful
So it’s just another attempt to boost profits.
>So it’s just another attempt to boost profits.
You say that like it’s a bad thing? *Everything* a company does is ‘just another attempt to boost profits’.
It should be the case that employees here are so much more productive than those in Romania that they are worth the extra pay (plus a bit ideally). Yet it seems they are not, hence this move.
@- it’s not as much as that. The threshold reduction costs £615 and above £9,100 salary it’s an extra 1.2%. So to cost £2K more in employer NICs the worker would need to make a salary in excess of £124K. If your employees are all on that kind of money your business can afford it. For someone on £35K the extra cost is about £925. Most likely these workers are on minimum wage which is the real reason they’re moving. Romania is £4 per hour compared to the UK’s £12.
An average £2K increase in employers NI contributions means an average wage of £125K.
https://zelt.app/blog/how-to-calculate-employers-ni-employer-s-ni-calculator-2024-2025-2026/
Sorry, that is a typo, it’s 1K per person. It’s more percentage wise for the lower paid which is very unfortunate as you say.
Rachel Reeves strikes again….
Like I keep saying the “living wage” is nothing more than a race to the bottom. Every single time it creeps up employers end up paying their employees less per hour over it, so you are worse off, eventually most people will end up on this “minimum wage”. The extra company NI contributions is just another nail in the coffin of most small UK businesses, giving them a reason to move abroad.
A bit of a minor story.
Relocation to a EU country makes sense for an Italian firm and not a security risk for the UK.
As usual, impact of Brexit on our information infrastructure is not discussed enough. I wish the employees well.
Nonsense the cheaper labour costs in Romania would have happened even if inside the EU. In fact probably would have happened sooner as it would have been easier to relocate while inside the EU. Of course nothing to do with Rachel Reeves’ extra employers NIC contributions and a rise in the minimum wage. Let’s not let facts get in a way of a good story. Hang on it’s cloudy today, where did the sun go? Must be because of Brexit.
Didn’t Prysmian push for the Gov to step in to stop cheap Chinese fibre flooding the market and pushing them out?
Seems like a nice way to reciprocate that help. The gov should remove the restrictions on the cheap imports if they go through with it.
I agree with the sentiment, but it would only shrink the amount of work they do and lead to even more redundancies.
Is it worth it if it cuts every fibre companies cost of materials by 5%, maybe, I don’t really know.