MORE manufacturing workers will be looking for work this year after a meter making firm with a base in Felixstowe moved its manufacturing operations to Europe.

More than 120 people have already been made redundant from Itron Metering Solutions UK in Felixstowe and 10 more manufacturing engineers will leave in March.

The factory in Carr Road, Felixstowe, will remain for research and development purposes with 19 employees who faced the axe being placed into different departments of the business.

Itron is the world’s largest supplier of Smart Meters and using the Felixstowe base for research and development will save an estimated 170 jobs.

Mel Moss, Itron’s HR director for the UK, said: “All the employees who were made redundant received out placement support over 2012 and the feedback from the employees on the support has been excellent.

“We estimate that about 40 per cent have already found alternative employment.

“We are losing a lot of skilled workers so our loss will be somebody else’s gain.”

Meter making services have now been transferred to Hungary and France as part of a major restructuring of the firm’s meter making operations.

Itron had to maintain its output of smart meters this year and has worked with the government in its aim to achieve the 2016 smart meter roll out target.

Mr Moss added: “We have had to maintain production during the course of 2012 until the operations were transferred to Hungary and to France.

“The production levels have been maintained by the employees which was surprising but shows the high level of professionalism.”