The change has been made possible by bringing currently outsourced subcontracting work back in house to the Avon Inflatables factory. But the statement makes it clear not all redundancies have been saved, saying: 'It is intended that the redundancies indicated above will be achieved via a voluntary redundancy programme. The details of this programme will be made known to the negotiating representatives within the next week or so'.

'While there will still be very limited and regrettable redundancies,' said Avon joint managing director Alan Morgan, 'the overall decision is a fantastic one for Avon, for our skilled workforce here at Llanelli and for Welsh manufacturing.'