I got made redundant in March last year and it’s a horrible horrible experience to go through, so they have my sympathy. My girlfriend's father works in a plant making valves in the Midlands, and they were put in an identical situation, but they resolved it by taking voluntary redundancies and working a 4 day week. Sections of the company did move to Europe, but they asked various members of the workforce affected to move to mainland Europe for 3 months to train their replacements at another plant! Talk about rubbing salt into the wounds!
We in the states call it layoffs... I have been thru 2 in the past year... with a wife, and 4 boys its not easy...