A CATFIELD boat company is to shed up to a fifth of its workforce amid concerns the economic slowdown will dent demand.Trend Marine supplies 70pc of orders nationally for windscreens, windows and sun roofs for luxury yachts and leisure cruisers.

A CATFIELD boat company is to shed up to a fifth of its workforce amid concerns the economic slowdown will dent demand.

Trend Marine supplies 70pc of orders nationally for windscreens, windows and sun roofs for luxury yachts and leisure cruisers.

The company said it would be reducing its current level of 300 employees by between 15pc and 20pc and that most overtime would be stopped.

Trend Marine said the cuts were necessary because its client base - the luxury boatmaking industry - has been badly affected by the downturn in the economy.

The company predicts production of its glass products will fall by 25pc in the first months of next year.

Robin Thatcher, technical and sales director, said: “Luxury boat builders are being impacted by the effects of the current economic crisis. As a result of this regrettable deteriorating situation, overtime has been all but eliminated and an employee reduction of about 15pc to 20pc will be necessary.

“The company will place as a priority working with the employee committee to minimise the impact on our employees.

“We are saddened that the economic circumstances have put matters beyond our control and forced this regrettable decision.”

Trend Marine was formed in 1973 and is based in 150,000sq ft of buildings on a 12-acre site.

It makes windows for vessels ranging from 30ft in length up to so- called superyachts.

Its client base includes Sunseeker, Princess, Fairline, Sealine and Broom, and the firm has an extensive export branch, which designs and manufactures goods for America, Canada and the Far East.

Recently the company invested in a digital glass-printing system which can produce a single piece of side window up to 3.1m in length. As well as window products Trend Marine also makes doors, hatches and port lights.