'A weird feeling': Life after 35 years at Vauxhall

For 35 years Paul Geary made the same journey to work at Vauxhall's Luton van factory and parked in the same space in the car park.

He has not found a new job since the plant closed in March when it was estimated more than 1,000 people lost their job.

Paul, 59, still gets up at the same time each morning as if he is working, which he says is a "weird feeling".

He is not alone.

The rate of UK unemployment rose to 5% earlier this year, which has correlated with the lowest output in UK car-making for 70 years.

Paul still believes "there was no need to close that Luton factory".

The plant shut after 120 years when parent company Stellantis said it would move its electric van production to another site in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.

The company said it was investing £50m "to strengthen" Ellesmere as its "UK commercial vehicle hub".

Paul is looking for a part-time job as his pension "certainly doesn't [meet] the cost of living".

After leaving his most recent role as a trade union representative, he had an operation that delayed the job search.

"I've found loads of stuff around the house to do, catch up, do decorating.

"It was one of the better paid places, certainly in the area, and I think that is where a lot of people will find difficulty, even those taking early retirement like myself.

"My retirement pay is nowhere near what I was taking home, obviously."

Alice Law also worked at Vauxhall for 35 years, starting at the age of 18 and going on to meet her husband at the plant.

She said she "loved" working at the factory, most recently as a paint shop supervisor, and the news of the closure was "very stressful".

"You thought, who is going to want to employ you?" she said.

Alice, 53, now has a job at nearby London Luton Airport in the security team and said she was left "questioning herself" when she started the role as to whether she could do it.

But it has now got "so much better" and she is "happy" to be there.

Robert Forster has also moved from Vauxhall to the airport, but at a very different stage of his career.

The 22-year-old was 18 months into a two-year contract as a junior engine sustainability apprentice when Vauxhall closed.

"My initial thoughts were, am I going to be able to finish my apprenticeship in time?", he said.

Having grown up in Luton he saw Vauxhall as a "secure environment" and he was "all over the place" after getting the news.

But he successfully applied for a similar apprenticeship at the airport.

"If you'd have talked to me about it a couple of months ago I would have said no way.

"I wouldn't have thought about being able to get a job at all, especially one so local.

"I think it's quite lucky."

The temp agency Flexistaff in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, had provided staff to work at Vauxhall Luton for 20 years, most recently about 450 workers.

Director Theresa Halston said the firm had been able to find people other work but "probably not the pay rate they wanted".

"Vauxhall paid very very well, which I don't think they will ever see again," she said.

"They have had to take a massive drop in pay."

The unemployment rate for the July-September was 5%, up from 4.3% the year previous.

In November, a director at the Office for National Statistics, Liz McKeown, said the figures pointed to a "weakening labour market".

In April, 59,203 vehicles were made, which was the lowest output for any month for more than 70 years - with the exception of 2020 when production effectively stopped during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Last year, Stellantis warned it may have to halt UK production due to uncertainty over the government's approach to electric vehicles (EVs).

Luton borough councillor James Taylor sits on the Vauxhall taskforce set up by the local authority to lessen the impact of the closure.

He said skills centres, jobs fairs and CV writing workshops were held to help those redundant.

"I think we've had some success," said the Labour councillor.

"We do know there are still some challenges and we will keep working with those people to get them back into employment."

A government spokesperson said: "This has been a challenging time for former Stellantis workers and their families.

"The closure of the factory had a huge impact on Luton and the surrounding area.

"We took steps to support those skilled and specialist workers to find new roles and will continue to provide help where it's needed."

They said it was providing £4bn for EV production, securing trade deals and was "slashing energy prices" through its industrial strategy.

Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.