The head of Herefordshire car parts firm Polytec Holden has said jobs at his company are safe even though an MP has asked for government help.
He said the problem faced by the car parts company was a long-term, cash flow issue created by their clients, relating to the way car makers required component suppliers to invest in expensive machinery to make car parts.
Managing Director Geoff McGladdery said he would welcome the help but said the company was still in profit. He said the threat to jobs was in the long term and not "today or tomorrow".
Leominster MP Bill Wiggin had asked the government to help save 225 jobs at Polytec Holden, Bromyard, during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.
Mr Wiggin asked the leader of the Commons, Harriet Harman, to arrange a meeting between the Business Secretary Lord Mandelson and the company, which supplies clients such as Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin.
Mrs Harman agreed and said the government was "determined to make sure we help those who are working hard in important British industries like the automotive industry."
Mr McGladdery said he was grateful to the MP for raising the issue in the Commons but he didn't want to give the impression the company "was about to go bust". He said he expected Polytec Holden to make a profit at the end of the first quarter of this year.
Mr McGladdery added : "The equipment can cost up to £1m and is the exclusive property of the car maker, but we need to use it to make their parts. When the car manufacturer takes delivery of the parts they pay us for that equipment. I don't want a handout for me. We are not a lame duck. But the banks have told us we won't lend you money to lend to your customers. If we can't borrow money to complete the orders then in the long term we won't have much business."
