The financial crisis at car giant Ford, which is making tens of thousands of US workers redundant, has fuelled uncertainty in the North West/West Midlands/UK automotive sector.
Combined with the rising cost of living, many communities could face severe financial hardship, warns a specialist personal debt adviser.
Although analysts believe Ford’s UK operations is safe due to a restructuring programme that started in 2001, there is speculation that the company’s Premier Automotive Group – which includes Jaguar, Aston Martin and Land Rover – may be sold after losing $162 million in the second quarter of 2006.
If personal debt becomes unmanageable, there are new and innovative ways of handling situations that traditionally involved the stigma of bankruptcy.
