Daewoo axe 200 jobs in the North

More than 200 workers are to lose their jobs at an electrical goods company.

Daewoo Electronics is shedding 205 jobs at its television and DVD factory in Co Antrim.

The South Korean firm is believed to be asking for voluntary redundancies amid fierce competition from cheaper Turkish and Chinese imports.

Consultation will now start with staff, who learned the news today.

At one stage the plant was the second largest manufacturer of video recorders in Europe and more than 1,000 people were employed in the North.

They have had a factory in Antrim for the last 17 years.

Antrim Ulster Unionist councillor Adrian Watson said he had been told of the cuts by employees today.

“This is a major blow for Antrim, where Daewoo was a major employer,” he said.

“A lot of people will be out of work and there are not a lot of alternative jobs in the electronics area in Northern Ireland.

“I understand this is down to difficulties in the marketplace.”

The company moved in recent times, with the decline of VCR players, to manufacturing DVD equipment. New products were introduced recently to try to address the problem.

A workforce of 80 will be left at the plant.