KITCHENS manufacturer Magnet has become the latest company to be forced into redundancies by the recession, it was revealed last night.

The company, whose manufacturing and distribution site in Darlington was involved in one of the longest strikes in history, said it had been forced to make 17 redundancies to increase efficiencies and profitability at the site.

Magnet, which opened in the town in 1973 and is now the company’s biggest UK distribution centre, as well as being one of Darlington’s biggest employers, has 700 people on the site. The redundancies will all be in its manufacturing operation.

Last night, one of the plant’s employees said the announcement came as “quite a shock” as workload has not seemed to have dropped, but conceded: “Although it doesn’t make it any better for the 17 people who will be out of work, we are lucky it isn’t a lot more. In these times, you just never know.”

A consultation is under way with the affected people, with those being made redundant due to leave by June 30. Last night, Magnet said it was looking for voluntary redundancies to avoid any compulsory job losses.

The site is renowned across the UK for being at the centre of a bitter 21-month dispute in 1996. More than 320 workers were involved in the strike, and were sacked for walking out in a dispute over pay and conditions.

However, since then, and under new parent company Nobia, the Darlington plant has progressed massively, with more than £6m being invested in the growth of the site since 2005.

The 150,000sq m base, which also includes human resources and design facilities, employs a significant proportion of Magnet’s total UK workforce of 2,000. Job creation has also been steady, with 120 employees taken on since 2007.

A spokesman for Magnet said last night that consultation is progressing over the job losses.

“The 17 redundancies, from over 700 employees at the Darlington site, are due to the requirement to increase efficiencies and profitability during a difficult economic climate,” he said.

“A consultation period is currently in progress and will end on June 30. Where possible, volunteers are being sought for redundancy in order to minimise the risk of enforced redundancies.”