GERRY BRAIDEN and DAVID ROSS

The economic downturn claimed a further wave of jobs yesterday including hundreds at the Highlands seafood plant set up by the lead singer of rock band Jethro Tull.

Some of the UK's leading firms including Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems also announced a number of redundancies, prompting a Scottish MP to warn the House of Commons that British manufacturing bosses and employees believe they are not being given a high enough priority during the crisis.

More than 350 jobs look set to go in Inverness with the likely closure of Strathaird Salmon, set up in 1978 by Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. In 2000 Anderson sold the company which is now owned by Youngs.

Its subsidiary, the Seafood Company, announced it was entering a 90-day consultation on the proposed transfer of its smoked salmon production to Fraserburgh. If the move goes ahead, Strathaird, which employs 354 staff, would close in August, 2009.

Increased energy costs and the uncertain economic climate led to a review of the company's manufacturing facilities which identified the need for significant capital investment.

Iain Herd, managing director at Strathaird Salmon, said: "In the current economic climate, with the costs of running our business increasing by over £900,000 year-on-year and a need to make more than £7m worth of capital investment over the next five years, we must consolidate our operations to secure the long term growth and profitability of the business and to safeguard the future for our employees in Scotland.

"In the event of closure we will do our utmost, together with the relevant public bodies, to redeploy or retrain those affected."

Following a meeting with the company's senior management local Liberal Democrat MP Danny Alexander said: "This news will also serve as a wake-up call to anyone who thought that the Highlands could be insulated from the economic problems affecting the rest of the country.

"Ensuring that our area weathers the economic storm must be the top priority for everyone."

He added that he had been assured that the company's Grantown on Spey plant would not be affected.

BAE Systems also announced the loss of around 200 jobs in its land systems business in the UK, hitting several sites including around 40 at its shipyards on the Clyde.

"The job losses will also affect factories in Newcastle, Leeds, Leicester, Barrow and Telford, said the company, adding that a voluntary redundancy programme was being launched immediately and that it had entered a three-month consultation period with its workforce and unions.

It follows the creation in July of BVT Surface Fleet, a joint venture between BAE Systems and VT Group Rolls-Royce said it would axe up to 2000 jobs worldwide, including 140 in the UK, after reviewing the impact of the current economic "uncertainties".

The aerospace giant said it had started consulting unions about the proposed job losses at its assembly and test facility in Derby, part of the group's civil aerospace business.

Rolls-Royce, which employs 39,000 workers globally, 60% of whom are based in the UK, said the announcement was the first stage in a more general programme aimed at matching the group's capacity more closely with the expected load in its facilities.

Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca plans to cut 1400 jobs and close three plants in Europe to improve efficiency.

Around 250 jobs will be affected in Macclesfield and Sweden, while the factory closures will be in Spain, Belgium and Sweden, with the jobs going by 2013.

In the Commons yesterday Labour's Jim Sheridan demanded a debate on the future of the manufacturing industry. He accused Tory leader David Cameron of showing more interest in the loss of John Sergeant from Strictly Come Dancing than in the future of British business.

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