Latest news with #factoryclosure
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Unite opposes DS Smith's Derbyshire packaging factory closure
UK's trade union Unite is opposing the proposed closure of DS Smith's packaging factory in Derbyshire as consultations commence. The factory in question is the Clay Cross site, which has nearly 140 jobs at risk. DS Smith, a supplier of retail packaging in the UK, was recently subject to a £5.8bn takeover by Memphis-based International Paper. The new management is reportedly planning to restructure UK operations, potentially closing five sites by the end of 2025. The planned closures could affect around 300 roles, raising concerns among workers and their families. Unite represents the engineers at the Clay Cross site, which has been a significant employer in the local community for generations. Despite International Paper's assurances during the acquisition process that they would not close UK plants, these proposed closures have emerged. Earlier in 2025, the company reported increased sales and earnings, largely attributed to the DS Smith acquisition. The Clay Cross site has been recognised for its operational success and health and safety, making it one of DS Smith's highest performing locations in the UK. The decision to consider this site for closure is reportedly linked to required infrastructure investments, particularly a new roof. This recommendation for a roof replacement stemmed from a visual inspection conducted in 2021. However, the site team has been managing the roof for several years and is not currently requesting its replacement. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Workers who were given assurances that their jobs would be safe now face paying the price for a profitable company's greed. It is an utter disgrace that International Paper is playing fast and loose with workers' livelihoods. "Unite is prepared to fight every step of the way to protect our hardworking members' jobs at Clay Cross." "Unite opposes DS Smith's Derbyshire packaging factory closure" was originally created and published by Packaging Gateway, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Hundreds of jobs to go in closure of UK's largest fibreglass factory
Hundreds of workers are set to lose their jobs after the owners of the UK's largest fibreglass factory announced the closure of the firm Nippon Electric Glass is to shut the plant in Hindley Green, Wigan, despite months of rescue talks with the government and local leaders. Josh Simons, Labour MP for Makerfield, said the firm had "repeatedly moved the goalposts" in discussions, while the GMB Union described the move as a "bitter betrayal" of the factory's 250-strong workforce. Nippon said "various options" had been considered over the plant's future, but the firm had decided to place its UK operation into voluntary liquidation. The announcement comes as Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is in Japan on a week long "trade mission" to promote investment into the region. Simons said Burnham is due to meet the chairman of Nippon, which began reviewing the future of the site in April, to discuss the like wind turbine blades and parts for the rail and aerospace industries are made at the factory using the lightweight material. Gary Edwards, regional organiser for GMB which represents skilled workers at the factory, said: "Everyone involved worked tirelessly to try and secure the site's future."But for every solution we found, the company presented another problem. It became hard not to question how serious they were about doing a deal.""I'm angry about that, I'm disappointed, bitterly, for the workers but that is what has kiboshed this deal."Mr Edwards said the 250 staff due to lose their jobs had been a victim of a "global trend" towards protectionism caused by uncertainty over global supply chains. 'Devastating' "They're essentially spending more money than they were offered in some of these deals in order to close the plant," said Simons. "The only way to explain that is because they want to reshore their supply chains in Japan, and that is not in the interests of my workers, it's not in the interests of Britain."Simons said the closure would be "devastating" for workers at the site, some of who had worked there for decades. He said he would fight to make sure those workers get "every bit of support they possible can" from the government and local authorities. The factory had made a loss of £12m in the year ending December 2024, according to a notice published by firm said it had decided to cease operation and enter voluntary liquidation to "quickly rebuild our composites business".It said it plans to "rebuild its production system" to improve profitability. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
4 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
'Everybody benefitted' from Banbury coffee factory set to close
Former employees of a six-decade-old coffee factory have told the BBC that it will be "sad to see it go", after its closure was announced earlier this coffee-making giant Jacob Douwe Egberts (JDE) said it would be closing its plant in Banbury - which employs about 160 people - next MP for Banbury Sean Woodcock, whose grandmother worked at the factory, said it was a "sad day" for the town that "really stings".JDE said closing the site - which first opened as a General Foods (GF) plant in the 1960s and employed thousands at its peak - was "not an easy decision to take". "Unfortunately, it seems clear that JDE gave up on Banbury long ago," Mr Woodcock said."This will be a very anxious and worrying time for employees and their families - I would urge them to contact me if they have need of any assistance," he added. The then GF Factory opened in 1964, producing food and drink - including Bird's Tuesday a group of former employees gathered at the GF Social Club in Banbury - which was established more than 50 years ago as a place for the factory's workers to let off some Marshall, who worked at the factory for 38 years, said it had been a "lovely place to work"."It was a very homely place and it was really good for you - they really looked after you."He said the news of its closure was "terrible", adding: "If we don't look at the way things are going now - once they're gone, the town is going to die." Echoing a similar sentiment, Annmarie Rutland said: "Its all just disappearing, and its a shame because General Foods was Banbury.""For some people it went down from fathers to sons and daughters - it was a family business," Ms Rutland, who stopped working at the factory two decades ago, said."A lot of people have come and gone now, and everyone has to move on - it's a shame."Her mother Jean Rutland, who previously worked at the GF Club, added: "Banbury has changed such a lot now - it's all gone, everything's disappearing."Basil Wallock, who worked at the plant until 1989, said the closure was "not good for the area", adding that it would be "sad to see it go"."Everybody [in the town] has benefitted from it - it was good for the community for a whole," he said."I never worked anywhere else, and I had a good life through it." Coffee production at the plant ended in 2023, with hundreds losing their jobs and only the site's packing facilities left a further review, JDE said the costs involved in maintaining the decades-old infrastructure in Banbury was "not financially viable", and the site would be completely closed."We are proud to have manufactured and packed coffee in Banbury for almost 60 years and would like to thank the local community for their valued support," JDE said."Most importantly, we want to acknowledge and thank everyone who has worked at the factory over the past six decades."A consultation into the planned closure in 2026 would be launched soon, the company added. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
4 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Banbury's JDE coffee factory to close after six decades
Dutch coffee-making giants Jacob Douwe Egberts (JDE) has announced plans to close a factory that employs about 160 company said its plant in Banbury - which first opened as a General Foods (GF) factory in the 1960s - would shut next move was "not an easy decision to take", JDE said, but that a review found the costs involved in maintaining the decades-old infrastructure was "not financially viable".Coffee production at the plant ended in 2023, with hundreds losing their jobs and only the site's packing facilities left running. "We have today announced a proposal to close our entire site in Banbury," JDE said in a statement earlier. "This was not an easy decision to take, and our priority now is with our associates and supporting them throughout the consultation process."It said that following a "comprehensive review into what it would take for Banbury to operate as a best-in-class packing facility", it found that "significantly more investment" was needed than "previously anticipated". The then GF Factory opened in 1964, producing food and drink - including Bird's been taken over by US food giant Kraft in the ensuing years, it was bought by JDE in faced widespread strike action in 2020 and 2021 at the plant when it put forward plans to fire and rehire much of the workforce on less favourable contract terms. Workers later agreed a deal to avoid the proposal."We are proud to have manufactured and packed coffee in Banbury for almost 60 years and would like to thank the local community for their valued support," JDE said."Most importantly, we want to acknowledge and thank everyone who has worked at the factory over the past six decades."A consultation into the planned closure in 2026 would be launched soon, the company added. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
South China Morning Post
30-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Sri Lanka workers in limbo after UK garment factory abruptly shuts
On a Monday morning that began like any other, Nandani*, a machine operator at the Next Manufacturing factory in Sri Lanka's Katunayake Free Trade Zone, was unexpectedly asked to go home early. Later that day, the news came – not in a meeting or an official letter, but via WhatsApp. Advertisement The factory was shutting down. Permanently. 'I am 49 years old. My livelihood suddenly ended. I don't know what to do,' said Nandani, who had worked for 19 years at the Next factory. Like Nandani, more than 1,400 of roughly 2,800 workers were blindsided by the abrupt closure of Next Manufacturing, a subsidiary of the British retail giant Next. The company blamed 'increasingly high operating costs' in a media release dated May 19. Next Manufacturing's parent company had reported more than £1 billion (US$1.35 billion) in pre-tax profits in the last financial year. Advertisement Labour rights advocates say Next Manufacturing's closure has violated Sri Lankan law and risks undermining the country's fragile economic recovery, as global firms rethink their footprint in post-crisis economies.
