Fabrinet UK has confirmed it will close its Calne factory, with 100 employees set to lose their jobs.

The factory has been operating on Harris Road, in Port Marsh Industrial Estate, for over 45 years since it opened in 1977.

But after uncertainty over its future, Fabrinet have confirmed that will change at the end of March 2023, when the factory will shut for the final time.

Around 100 employees will be affected by the closure and are now facing redundancy.

A Fabrinet spokesperson said: “Following a review of Fabrinet’s global manufacturing capacity, including a review of its operations in Calne, it has been decided to consolidate and streamline manufacturing operations in its factories, and to close the Calne facility over several months.

“Approximately 100 jobs at the Calne facility will be impacted by this consolidation. As part of the redundancy program, the company can confirm it will do everything possible to assist the affected employees through the transition and the final closure of the Calne operations, which presently is planned by the end of March."

The factory has been manufacturing electronic products under several different names, most recently Exception EMS Ltd, for over four decades and has been known as Fabrinet UK since 2017.

But recently the multinational company has faced financial difficulties. In the year ending June 2021, Fabrinet UK recorded a loss of £840,000. Their sales dropped significantly after being impacted by the pandemic, falling from £16.7 million to £13.8 million.

In its accounts for that year general manager Simon Hopcraft cited a loss of the market share, disruption in the supply chain and a downturn in customer demand as the main risks to the company’s future.

At the time he said: “As with any trading organisation the management of the business and the implementation of the company’s strategy are subject to a number of risks.

“Customer projects and requirements have been significantly impacted by the global Covid pandemic”.

Several employees took to LinkedIn to react to the news of the closure.

One worker said: “Unfortunately, the news is true. Fabrinet UK will cease trading on March 31 this year. It has been a fun ride, but all good things come to an end.”

Fabrinet will maintain their engineering and manufacturing facilities in Thailand, the US, China and Israel. The company provides advanced optical packaging and electronic manufacturing services to equipment manufacturers.