Wrightbus: 'Delicate talks' ongoing, says Jeff Wright

The former director of Wrightbus says delicate negotiations are continuing to try to save the company.

Jeff Wright lost control of the business last week when the company went into administration, with the loss of 1,200 jobs.

He was speaking at Green Pastures Church on Sunday, where he is a pastor.

On Sunday, hundreds of people protested outside the Church in Ballymena, which received large donations from Wrightbus.

The Green Pastures charity received more than £15m from the firm over six years, most of which was donated while the group was profitable.

Some workers have expressed concern that the donations weakened the business.

On Monday, Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith said he was doing all he could to work with Invest NI and government colleagues to support any potential buyer.

Responding to questions from MPs in the Commons, he did not go into detail about either the donation or questions about whether the sale or rent of the Wrightbus factory land had complicated bids to save the firm.

However he did call on "anyone who can do anything to unlock the process" of selling the company to be "as flexible as possible".

Simon Hoare, chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee. described the donation as "absurdly large".

Mr Smith also confirmed the administrator was taking steps to bring home six workers based in Malaysia.

Chancellor Sajid Javid was investing £220 million in the bus sector across the UK and he hoped part of this cash might benefit Wrightbus if a buyer could be found, he added.

During Sunday's protests, there were some police officers both inside and outside the church but the demonstration was peaceful.

Wrightbus founder, Sir William Wright, stopped to speak to some of the protesters on his way into the church and was applauded by many of them.

Stephen McMaster said he had clapped because "nobody in the whole of Ballymena or this workforce runs down William Wright for this chaos".

Another protester said he was there because the workers had "nowhere to go, nobody to see" and they wanted answers.

The union Unite's George Brash has called on the Wright family to hand over control of the land where the factory is based.

"Such a move offers the best hope to safeguard the workforce jobs and skills and a future for this town," he said.

Jeff Wright received a standing ovation during his sermon on Sunday.

Mr Wright was tearful as he defended his recent public silence.

On Sunday night, the church posted online what he had said.

"My heart for the company and its people means more to me than the vicious comments and the intimidation that my family have received in the last week," he said.

"But I have learned from dad that there's a time to speak and a time to be silent."

He said talks to try to save the workforce were ongoing and he did not want to say anything that would jeopardise the negotiations.

Mr Wright said he was working hard to ensure there was future employment for the workers.

The Wright family, who founded Wrightbus in 1946, say the collapse of the business was due to a big fall in demand for buses in the UK market.

The Wrightbus factory is owned by another firm Whirlwind Property Two, separate from the manufacturing company.

Whirlwind Property Two is controlled by Jeff Wright, the main shareholder in Wrightbus.

The family have denied they acted unreasonably during attempts to sell the business.