DEFENCE firm QinetiQ has announced that it is closing its Malvern-based Emerging Technologies Group (ETG) at a cost of more than 60 jobs.

QinetiQ had extended a consultation period on the future of the ETG in hope of selling it off.

However those efforts proved fruitless and 64 staff were told they were losing their jobs on Monday morning (November 22).

QinetiQ has now made more than 250 redundancies in Malvern over the past two months - more than a fifth of the 1,200 staff who were based at the St Andrews Road site.

Malvern Hills District Council’s chief executive Chris Bocock this week said the authority was doing everything it could to soften the blow of the cuts.

“We’re working very closely with QinetiQ and other partners to minimise the impact of these job losses,” he said. “Not just the people directly affected but also with an eye on the part that QinetiQ and its employees play in the life of this community. They really are woven into the fabric of Malvern.”

The ETG worked on advanced technologies including thermal imaging, high-speed transistors and miniaturised censors.

County councillor Beverley Nielsen called its loss “tremendously disappointing”.

“They have been doing a lot of very current and relevant work on technologies that will be incredibly important to us as we move forward,” she said. “I think it is a great shame that we are not able to find a means of nurturing investment in the next generation of technologies that could be vital in all our futures.

“It is a huge blow for Malvern but also a wider strategic issue for the whole country. This was a jewel in our crown, not just locally but also nationally and internationally.”

QinetiQ spokesman Claire Scotter said that, despite considerable interest, there was no viable solution to keep the ETG arm open.

“There is an unsustainable cost to keeping the business open when it does not have enough customers,” she said.

David Luxton, of union Prospect, said employees were “stoically accepting” compulsory redundancy.

“This is certainly a loss to the defence capabilities of the country. These were highly skilled people looking at cutting edge technologies.,” he said. “The implication now is that there are no other redundancy plans, other than perhaps in HR to reflect the sharp reduction in the number of staff.”