Partner Article

Job cuts at packaging firm

A packaging firm has announced 26 redundancies at a Hartlepool factory after years of losses to “Preserve the viability of the site.”

Saica Packaging, which makes packaging for Nestle and a number of breweries, announced the cutbacks look set to come in July, but hope to secure mostly voluntary lay-offs.

The company also said it will invest £42m in all of its UK plants to modernise and revamp them.

Andrew Chamberlain, regional managing director, said: “Saica Packaging is fully committed to maintaining a manufacturing presence in the North East and we are confident that, taken together, these measures will help us to turn the fortunes of the factory around.”

He added: “It is always disappointing to have to make redundancies but unfortunately we believe we have no option if we are to ensure the long-term future of the Hartlepool plant.”

The company is reportedly entering month-long talks with its 176 employees and unions over the redundancies.

The latest cutbacks come just weeks after 11 jobs were axed in April, leading to a total of 37 job cuts.

A company statement said: “The plant has sustained important losses for a number of years and this has been exacerbated by the recession to the point where action has to be taken.

“As part of our turn-around Saica Packaging will also re-engineer the plant to tackle new added value markets that are intended to endure a successful future.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .