AS 173 more workers prepare to leave Monroe on Friday, the general manager of the ill-fated York shock absorber manufacturers today appealed to business leaders throughout North Yorkshire: "Give them a job."

The rescue plea came from plant manager Tony Smith as he and his human resources manager Sue Harrand were organising this latest tranche of redundancies.

He said: "I can promise any employers that get in touch with us that with the right training the majority of those leaving on Friday will hit the ground running. These guys are a credit to themselves, to our company and to York. They deserve your attention."

The 47-year-old Monroe factory is doomed finally to close its gates next March after a devastating shut-down order from the Brussels headquarters of parent company, Tenneco Automotive.

The reasons had nothing to do with the quality of Monroe's precision products and everything to do with the strength of sterling, overcapacity of shock absorbers in Europe and the tendency by both customers and competitors to move work to eastern Europe.

Redundancies have been staggered in order to service orders from Monroe's 102 customers - with 41 leaving on September 1, then 17 and now the biggest exodus of all bringing the total number who will have left the gates in Shipton Lane so far to 221.

Another 35 will leave on October 13 and the final 70, involved in non-core business like axle-making , will exit in March next year.

The 173 saying their farewells on Friday consist of 123 permanent staff and 50 on temporary contracts.

Mr Smith described their core skills as welding, machining, grinding assembly work, packaging and warehouse distribution but more important, he said, was that the disciplines behind those skills are all transferable.

"These are people who are loyal, punctual, shift-hardened, flexible, concerned about health and safety whose attention to quality is second nature, people who have earned approval from the likes of organisations like Ford, Land Rover, Scania and Renault; people who work with life-and-death precision.

"Since we announced the closure on January 14 a mere three people left the factory unscheduled. We maintained our high productivity levels, our delivery performance did not flag for a second and there was not a single complaint from customers suggesting we had lowered our quality standards in any way. That is the sort of people they are and which managers everywhere yearn for."

He appealed to firms to come to the plant and see for themselves how workforce and management teams could help them.

Already seven employers, including Thrall, Donnelley's, Portasilo and GSM Graphics, have converged on a 24 hour "jobshop". It is a former two-storey boardroom run on the factory site by Future Prospects, the outplacement organisation, with Target Training of Piccadilly, York organising courses there through LearnDirect, the Government-sponsored project for Internet learning.

A support group has also been set up by the City of York Council's economic development unit, including the employment service, the benefits service, York College, Target Training and the industrial chaplaincy.

Sue Harrand said: "Until now, with the help of the job shop and others, 80 per cent of those leaving have been 'fixed up' - a term we use advisedly because, for instance, some are retiring and were looking for part time voluntary work, others went into full-time education or planned to start up their own businesses.

"But many chose other occupations like kitchen fitting or retail, which illustrates just how transferable their skills are."

Do YOU want to recycle the skills and disciplines of Monroe employees? Then phone Sue Harrand, human resources manager on 01904 687687. And don't worry if you go past the Friday deadline. She is keeping in touch with every jobless employee who leaves the factory.