240 jobs at risk
As many as 240 jobs are at risk after British soft drink maker Britvic announced plans of closing down its Norwich site and transferring production of Robinsons squash and Fruit Shoot to sites in East London, Leeds and Rugby.
The company maintained that the proposed closure, which will take place by 2019, would not affect its financial forecast and will make “significant productivity and efficiency savings”.
“The proposal is being made to improve the efficiency and productivity of our manufacturing operations,” Britvic said, adding all employees would be consulted beforehand. According to media reports, the costs related to the closure will be detailed in Britvic’s annual results in November.
Confirming this development, Britvic chief executive Simon Litherland said that the proposal was “not made lightly” and that Norwich had been an “important site” for the business for many years.
Unilever, which co-own the site with Britvic, has reportedly been informed about this.
The soft drink maker had announced plans to invest £240m in its British manufacturing operations two years ago. The company has been restructuring its operations in the UK and Ireland for some time. In the half year to May, its pre-tax profits fell by 7.1 per cent because of the costs of reorganising its business.
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