Closure of Barnoldswick Rolls-Royce sites would be £1 billion hit to regional economy

Several rounds of job losses have been made in recent years, culminating in the latest news that the renowned engineering company was looking to merge its two Barnoldswick factories, a move Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson said would be 'devastating' for the area.

In response, a petition has been launched calling to stop the transfer of the Barnoldswick fan blade work to Singapore, and associated proposed job losses.

The petition reads: "We call on the UK Government to work with Rolls-Royce, Unite the union and key stakeholders to acknowledge the value of this site and battle for Barnoldswick.

"Barnoldswick is the historic birthplace of the jet engine, many of the Rolls-Royce model numbers start with RB (Rolls Barnoldswick), the skills and experience of the workers are priceless.

"Over the last two years the workforce has been reduced by almost 50% and the latest announcement of further job losses could see the site close, with more than 1,000 families on site and in the local supply chain abandoned.

"Rolls-Royce contributes £1.1bn to GDP in the region and the North West Aerospace sector it supports has a GVA £1.7bn.

"Governments from Germany to Singapore are investing in aerospace to make sure they thrive in the aviation recovery.

"The UK Government cannot afford to be asleep at the wheel resulting in this historic wealth creator being lost, they must act now."