Around 60 jobs are at risk at one of Andover’s longest-established manufacturing businesses amid proposals to close its Walworth Industrial Estate operation and relocate production to Romania.
Control Techniques Dynamics, which has operated in Andover for more than six decades, is facing an uncertain future following proposals by parent group Nidec to transfer production from the town to its operations in Romania.
The proposals have raised concerns about the loss of skilled manufacturing jobs from Andover and the impact the potential closure could have on local families and the wider economy.
The situation is particularly significant because of the company’s long association with the town.
Control Techniques Dynamics can trace its origins to Moore Reed & Co Ltd, established in south London in 1962 by six engineers producing precision servo components, initially for the aerospace industry.
According to the company’s published history, rapid expansion resulted in the business moving to Andover in 1964, where its manufacturing activities grew to include AC and DC motors and encoders.
That means manufacturing associated with the business has been based in Andover for more than 60 years.
The company subsequently became Control Techniques Dynamics and developed into a specialist manufacturer of high-performance motors, with its products used in industrial automation and other technically demanding applications.
Its longevity also means the business has provided employment to generations of people from Andover and the surrounding area.
The proposed closure therefore represents more than the potential disappearance of approximately 60 jobs. If it proceeds, Andover would also lose a manufacturing operation which has formed part of the town’s industrial landscape since the 1960s.
Production proposed to move overseas
Nidec’s proposals would see operations currently undertaken in Andover transferred to Romania.
The plans remain subject to a consultation process, meaning the closure should not currently be regarded as a final decision.
That distinction is important for those campaigning to retain the operation, as it means there remains a window in which alternatives to closure could potentially be considered.
Nidec has previously said the proposal forms part of its long-term strategy to consolidate economically viable operations and has acknowledged the impact the situation could have on employees and their families.
The Japanese multinational became the owner of the business following its acquisition of Emerson Electric’s motors and drives businesses in 2017.
More recently, Control Techniques Dynamics was integrated into Nidec Drives, bringing the company’s servo motor expertise more closely together with the wider drives business.
At the time, the integration was promoted as a way of strengthening collaboration and creating efficiencies across Nidec’s international operations.
The prospect of production subsequently leaving Andover has now placed the future of the historic local operation in doubt.
Political intervention sought
North West Hampshire MP Kit Malthouse has become involved in efforts surrounding the factory’s future.
He has publicly described Control Techniques Dynamics as having been part of Andover for more than 60 years and highlighted the skilled nature of the workforce.
Mr Malthouse has also sought discussions with Nidec’s management over the proposals and the possibility of retaining the jobs in Andover.
Test Valley Borough Council has also been made aware of the situation, with the potential loss of around 60 skilled jobs representing a significant issue for the local economy.
The coming weeks could now prove crucial.
While consultation continues, attention is likely to turn towards whether an alternative can be found which would allow some or all of the operation to remain in Andover.
Questions will inevitably be asked about what options have been examined before production is moved overseas and whether local or regional economic support could help make continued manufacturing in the town viable.
There is also the wider question of what the loss would mean for Andover’s manufacturing base.
More than 60 years of skills at risk
Control Techniques Dynamics is not simply a distribution operation or administrative office which happens to be based in the town.
It has been involved in specialist engineering and manufacturing for decades.
The company’s products have included brushless servo motors, asynchronous servomotors, torque motors and integrated motor and drive systems used within sophisticated automation applications.
Alongside the physical manufacturing operation sits something considerably harder to quantify: decades of accumulated engineering knowledge and experience.
Long-established factories frequently develop skills which are passed between employees over many years. Once production is relocated and a workforce dispersed, rebuilding that knowledge locally can prove considerably more difficult than reopening a building.
It is one reason the proposed closure could have implications beyond the immediate number of jobs affected.
The Walworth Industrial Estate itself occupies an important place in Andover’s post-war development.
The expansion of industry in the town was closely connected with Andover’s growth following its designation as an expanded town in the 1960s, when businesses and workers were encouraged to relocate from London.
Companies established on Walworth helped transform the local economy and created thousands of manufacturing and engineering jobs.
Control Techniques Dynamics is one of the businesses whose history stretches back to that period.
More than six decades later, the prospect of its production leaving Andover represents another potential erosion of that industrial heritage.
Around 60 livelihoods remain uncertain
Behind the corporate restructuring and economic arguments are approximately 60 people whose jobs could disappear if the proposal proceeds.
The effect of a factory closure can also reach considerably further than those directly employed, particularly when workers have spent many years developing specialist skills within one business.
Local suppliers and businesses can also feel the consequences when established manufacturing operations disappear.
For that reason, the future of Control Techniques Dynamics is likely to be watched closely across Andover.
The key point remains that the process has not yet concluded.
While the proposal remains under consultation, there is still an opportunity for Nidec, political representatives and other organisations to examine whether an alternative to complete closure can be found.
After more than 60 years of manufacturing in Andover, the decision will determine more than the future of one factory.
It will decide whether another piece of the town’s industrial history continues to have a future here — or whether the skills and production built up over generations leave Andover for good.