Thread by @uk_domain_names

Here's how decisions taken by one company ripple through the wider market like dominoes. Honda's closing its Swindon plant in 2021. As a result, a number of firms supplying it are also closing, moving or downsizing the UK-based portions of their business.
mergermarket.com/info/showa-cou…

For example according to this January 2020 news story, TS Tech UK employs 601 people (it employed 742 in 2018) but it may have to shutter its £100+ million turnover business completely.
swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/18144715.…

So you have a decision by Honda that affected 3,500 jobs directly that's actually potentially affecting thousands or tens of thousands more jobs in the local supply chain. But news stories don't tend to join the dots, so all you see is Honda's headline figure.

Here's another example: Nichirin UK is ceasing assembly operations in the UK as a direct result of Honda's decision (they say so in black and white in their Annual Report). Their plant will close in June 2020. This affects about £15 million of business.
beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/037158…

And here's another annual report, explaining that another Honda supplier, UYS Limited, is being wound down in an orderly fashion.
beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/031802…

Here's more detail about UYS from their own annual report. The firm had a £41.9 million turnover in 2018/19 and made parts for 151,000 vehicles.
beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/031944…

Another firm, Showa UK, highlights the impact of Honda's decision on its £55 million/year business, and says it's exploring its options.
beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/030212…

That's the thing: unless you're in the auto industry, you'll almost certainly never have heard of Honda's suppliers. But they're far from small businesses! They employ hundreds of people each and have chunky turnovers. The web of interdependencies is vast.

It also highlights the inadequacy of the UK Government's assistance. They earmarked £16 million to a fund for training and support to companies affected by Honda's decision, but in most cases they had *one* client (which had been in the UK over 30 years!)
gov.uk/government/new…

Oh, and the 3 companies whose annual reports I linked to have wage bills in excess of £11 million a year. So that's £11 million less that will flow to UK-based employees once they leave, creating a knock-on ripple effect because they won't have that money to spend on things.

So for example if those jobs are concentrated geographically, that might put a hairdresser or a cafe or a gardener out of business because they lose a chunk of their client base overnight.