Around 200 workers at the Aston Martin site in St Athan are set to be made redundant, according to Unite Wales.

The workers union "reacted with deep concern" to the proposals, which they say has come both Aston Martin themselves and their contingent workforce provider Millbank (Priory Design Services Ltd). Aston Martin are proposing the loss of 95 jobs whilst Millbank is proposing a further 100 plus.

In a statement today, Unite Wales said the scale of the proposed job losses raises serious questions regarding Aston Martin's employment practices and its wider commitment to South Wales.

Peter Hughes, Unite Wales Regional Secretary said: "Our members working at Aston Martin will be very concerned regarding their long-term futures tonight.

"The potential loss of over 200 jobs represents a huge chunk of the total workforce. We are calling upon Aston Martin to step back from these proposals and work with Unite and Welsh Government to find an alternative path forward.

"We are engaged in a formal consultation on behalf of our members with a view to avoiding or reducing the impact of the redundancies across the entire workforce.

"Aston Martin is a brand that prides itself on its reputation and has been heavily financially assisted by Welsh Government to locate at St Athan.

We expect the company to therefore act in a way that is both ethical and in the spirit of social partnership that we advocate in Wales. "Unite is prepared to work with the new leadership in Aston Martin to improve the performance of the business, providing it acts ethically and delivers highly skilled, well paid jobs and long-term employment security for our members. We will be challenging and scrutinising these drastic proposals to get the best possible outcome for our members employed at Aston Martin, St Athan". Vale MP Alun Cairns said: The potential loss of any job is naturally concerning and will have a major impact on the families concerned, if the proposals go ahead at Aston Martin in St Athan. I am continuing to engage on what can be done to mitigate job losses. "I have been in touch with Aston Martin regularly over the last year to support them and their employees through the Covid challenges – both operationally and economically. "Over the last few weeks alone I have had a meetings with the Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer to discuss their plans. "We agreed that the excellent skill levels and facilities in St Athan have great potential and provide a great opportunity for Aston Martin's future plans. I have been reassured over their long term commitment to the site and workforce. "I hope that Aston Martin's restructuring can lead to new opportunities locally but this will offer little comfort to those who are at risk of losing their jobs whilst the company reorganises and adjusts its vehicles to meet changing demands. "They agreed to look closely at the consultation responses to do all possible to reduce plans for redundancy."