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Gemfire on ice
Could Gemfire be the first casualty of the credit crunch? The integrated optics firm is reportedly running short of cash as investors get cold feet and customers push out their orders.
As a result it has abruptly closed down its facility in Livingston, Scotland, with the loss of 250 jobs, says this BBC report. (You may recall that the Livingston plant is the home of the former silica-on-silicon firm Kymata, which was sold to Alcatel Optronics, then to Avanex, and finally to Gemfire.)
The fiesty Scots don’t appear to be very happy at this treatment, claiming that the Livingston outfit was the most profitable of the three Gemfire locations, and the order book was full, according to this article in Scottish daily The Herald.
However, UK labour laws apparently don’t allow the option of putting the company on ice for two weeks, the tactic the company has employed at its two US locations to see it through the tight spot.
If — and I’d say that’s a fairly big if in the current climate — Gemfire manages to conjure up additional funding, either in the form of a new investor or a bridge loan from customers, then it may try to reopen the Livingston factory.
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