Flashback to the protests at Vestas.
WIGHT LIVINGTHIS month marks the anniversary of one of the most explosive periods in the Island’s recent history and, a year on, the IW continues to feel the effects.
Last summer, almost 600 workers at Vestas Blades discovered they were to lose their jobs, sparking mass protests from angry Islanders.
The protests culminated in an 18-day siege, with desperate staff locking themselves in the company headquarters, cheered on by hundreds of supporters outside.
A roundabout outside the Dodnor factory became a Climate Camp, populated by eco-campaigners, trade union members and Vestas workers, friends and family, joined by global media.
But the outcry did not stop the company withdrawing production from the Island and relocating closer to its major customers in China and the USA.
The result was unemployment rising drastically on the Island.
In August 2009 — the month the siege ended — the number of Islanders claiming Jobseekers Allowance was 3.8 per cent, just below the national average. That rose in one month to 4.1 per cent, more than 25 per cent higher than the South East average.
Former employee Mark Flower, one of the protesters involved in the sit-in, said he had only recently been able to find work — returning to his previous profession as a carer.
"After Vestas, the Job Centre arranged for me to do some GCSEs and I was training to go into the Merchant Navy until I was ruled out because I was colour blind.
"I don’t think there was a great deal of support for us after Vestas. There were not many jobs around then and there seems to be even less now," said Mr Flower.
Fellow former worker Graham Ward was forced to sell his two-bedroom house in Carisbrooke and move to the Midlands.
"I applied for 280 jobs, 175 of them on the Island, and I had four replies — two of them saying I was over qualified. It was so depressing . I had never been redundant before," said Mr Ward.
Despite mortgage insurance designed to support him if he lost his job, problems with the bank forced Mr Ward to use his redundancy payment to pay his mortgage.
"I had sleepless nights. Every day I was getting letters saying a bill had not been paid," he said.
Mr Ward, who worked for Vestas and its predecessors for nine years, said he also feared the same situation could arise again.
"Vestas did what they felt like. They came here, were given a lot of money from the government and left. They have just been given more money for their new research and development centre but I suspect when that money runs out they will leave again," he said.
In the wake of last year’s closure a task force was formed, led by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), to find as many jobs as possible for sacked employees. By December, IW Council cabinet member for economy, George Brown, claimed 60 per cent had been found alternative work.
SEEDA said it had been working with the company and other agencies before the closure to try to keep manufacturing in the UK, but when the closure was confirmed it switched its attention to helping sacked workers find new jobs.
It held workshops and through Businesslink — now facing massive cuts and redundancies itself, as revealed by the County Press last week — gave advice to people interested in self-employment.
It said it had also played a key role in ensuring the research and development centre was built on the Island, including almost £10 million in funding with the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC).
Since February, the number of Jobseekers Allowance claimants dropped by more than 800 people to 3.5 per cent and there have been other encouraging signs for Island manufacturing as well.
Last month, former Vestas manager Sean McDonagh announced the creation of a new, Island-based, turbine producer, Sureblades.
Mr McDonagh established the foundations for the business while still surrounded by the chaos of the Vestas protests.
In among the tents, placards and banners he met businessman Keith Hounsell.
"Keith heard one of the interviews with me on the radio.
"He came down to the roundabout and managed to find me. We agreed to talk as soon as it was over," said Mr McDonagh.
It was from those early discussions that Sureblades was born and the company is preparing test blades that could go into full production on the Island in the coming weeks.
"Originally, we planned to base the company on the mainland, near Exeter. There has been a lot of government support for businesses in the South West, which is not available in the South East.
"But we had a rethink in December and decided that we wanted to keep the company here. That was partly because of the pool of expertise that is still on the Island.
"I get one to two e-mails a day from former Vestas employees asking about the business and introducing themselves," he said.
Another company capitalising on ex-Vestas expertise has been Blade Runner Shipping Ltd, which took over the running of the Blade Runner vessels that transported blades from the Island.
Former Vestas shipping manager, Mike Rose, said: "When I found out what was happening with Vestas, I went to them with a plan to take over the shipping department, like a management buy-out for the department."
This month, the company played an essential role in bringing some of the most spectacular boats to Cowes Week.
The Oracle and Origin America’s Cup boats, which competed in a series of high-profile races, may have sailed some of the toughest oceans on the planet but it fell to Blade Runner Shipping to transport the multi-million pound vessels across The Solent to their Cowes moorings.
"We did not know exactly what market was out there but we had done some research. We have only really been going since January because it took a few months to set everything up," said Mr Rose.
"We are operating at ten to 20 per cent of our capacity at the moment and that is enough to keep going but there is a potential we could really fly."
Ironically, one of customers most likely to be coming to them with more business in the near future will be Vestas.
Mr Rose said: "Although the research and development centre will not be turning out 1,500 turbine blades like the old factory, it will be turning out hundreds. Many of those will be bigger and that will mean fewer can be transported at one time so it increases the number of journeys.
"When the factory was closing I was talking to them about what was happening and I knew there would be a time when they would be busy again."
Reporter: ross.findon@iwcp.co.uk