Woo One hopes its plant will re-open this year

Woo One hopes its plant will re-open this year

UK moulder Woo One, which was a leading supplier to Samsung, is to close at the end of this month – but hopes to re-open later in the year. The Korean-owned company was set up in the mid-1990s primarily to supply mouldings such as business machine housings to Samsung’s Wynyard plant in north-east UK. However, the announcement that Samsung was to shut its operation this spring with the loss of 450 jobs left Woo One highly exposed (PRW.com 16 January).

The firm this week said it will lay off 68 workers at the end of March; managing director Keith Boynton said they will have first refusal on positions when the plant re-opens.

Hartlepool Council has pledged to help the firm re-establish itself, according to economic development manager Antony Steinberg. Only three years ago Woo One was seeking to add 300 employees because it had won more work from Samsung to make doors for microwave ovens. The recruitment drive was backed by a Ј250,000 (E350,000) grant from the Department of Trade and Industry. New European-made injection moulding machinery had been installed in the plant last year.