600 jobs under threat at engineering firm

The company blamed the “severe” downturn in the oil and gas industry as operators reduce their investment. It said the scenario had dramatically impacted OneSubsea’s order intake, leaving many of its plants underutilised.

OneSubsea has over 900 staff in Leeds. Some staff will remain at its site on Queen Street, Stourton, under the proposals, which does not affect engineering, project management and tendering.

In a statement it said: “We are considering a proposal to cease manufacturing, assembly and test activities in Leeds during 2017. We understand the impact of this announcement on our employees and the local community.

“This is only a proposal at this stage and we will be conducting consultation with the unions and employee representatives and make every effort to try and mitigate as much as possible the impact on our employees.

“Under the proposed changes, we will keep a presence in Leeds and will continue to operate an engineering, project management and tendering hub in the city to continue to support our activities in the region.”

OneSubsea was formed in 2014 following a joint venture between two global leaders - Cameron and Schlumberger - to manufacture and develop products, systems and services for the subsea oil and gas market.