Floform started trading nearly 50 years ago

Floform, from Welshpool, which produces components for the motor industry, is looking to make 60 job cuts.

The firm, which has been in business since 1959, employs 150 staff and has customers in North America and Europe.

Floform operations director Roger Gaskell confirmed the cuts and said the jobs would go by the end of next month.

The Welsh Development Agency said it was in talks with the company.

The firm's products include electrodes for spark plugs and precision parts for fuel injectors.

We've lost a large order from America and the order won't come back Roger Gaskell

The company has asked for voluntary redundancies.

Mr Gaskell said the firm's biggest customer the Delphi Corporation - which is part of the General Motors Group in the US - filed for bankruptcy in October.

"We've lost a large order from America and the order won't come back," he said.

"It is our number one customer - we've been supplying them for 10 years. We had an idea it might happen and have been trying to diversify."

Mr Gaskell added that workers were told about the job losses on Friday.

A 30-day consultation period has started and the firm is working with the trade union, Amicus.

Meanwhile, Mid and West Wales AM Glyn Davies has urged First Minister Rhodri Morgan to establish an "advisory panel" to promote economic development after a number of job cuts in mid Wales during the last 12 months.

Mr Davies said: "It is truly depressing that 2005 closes with yet more black jobs news for mid Wales as Floform, Welshpool's biggest manufacturing business, notifies staff that up to 60 jobs are to go".

The Conservative AM added: "Mid Wales is suffering from a general wage packet downsizing which inevitably means a knock-on loss of spending power from the local economy and an end to any ideas of owning a house for many more local people".

Liquidation

Mr Davies said he had already pressed Mr Morgan on several occasions to establish an advisory panel to promote economic development in mid Wales.

Last month, 115 jobs were put under threat at Dairygold Consumer Foods Plant UK in Felinfach, near Lampeter.

In October, 40 jobs went at a directory inquiries centre in Aberystwyth, while last January car components firm Marche Ltd went into liquidation with the loss of 50 jobs in Welshpool.

In August, it was announced that 35 job centre staff were to lose their jobs in Newtown as part of the UK-wide civil service cutbacks announced last year.