392 UK jobs face axe at tea firm

Tea company Twinings is to axe almost 400 UK jobs

Tea firm Twinings has announced plans to cut almost 400 UK jobs as it shifts its manufacturing focus overseas, it was revealed.

The firm said it was considering a move to close its North Shields tea packaging site in September 2011, with the loss of all 263 workers.

Production for the UK market would be moved to its plant in Andover, where there would also be 129 potential job cuts.

Twinings wants to move production closer to its major markets and plans to build a new factory in Poland and enlarge its site in China. The firm has seen its sales growth slow, driven by lower demand for its premium teas although its Everyday range remains popular, according to parent company Associated British Foods (ABF).

Twinings, which once used Stephen Fry in its advertising, launched a new campaign to promote its speciality teas in May. ABF said this had produced "encouraging results".

Marcus Cotter-Stone, Twinings' international supply director, said: "We understand that this announcement may cause concern for some of our employees. This is a very difficult but necessary step which will allow Twinings to remain competitive in our markets worldwide and take full advantage of future growth opportunities."

He said while the firm has had some overseas manufacturing capacity for many years, Twinings was not operating efficiently as most of its tea is imported into the UK, packaged and then re-exported. "It is important to emphasise that this proposal does not affect the Twinings people drink in the UK, which will continue to be manufactured here," he added.

"If the proposal is to go ahead every effort will be made to support affected Andover employees, including a retraining programme, outplacement support, opportunities for other roles within the ABF group, and enhanced redundancy packages."

It is anticipated that most job losses would not take place until September 2011 and there will be no cuts for at least a year. ABF said the total charge for the reorganisation will be £19 million. It said the plans include investing in high speed, automated packaging equipment at Andover.

The firm's Chinese factory would be doubled in size and be concentrated on production for the US and Asia Pacific markets, while a new factory in Poland would be focussed on markets in the rest of the world.