Drinks group to close its head office and make more redundancies

Drinks business Halewood Wines and Spirits is reducing its workforce further, and closing its Huyton headquarters.

It is looking at warehousing options within a 15-mile radius of its current base, and said some operational roles will transfer to its Chorley site in Lancashire, which will become the new HQ.

The cutbacks are due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier this year the company announced plans to cut staff numbers in the UK and Australia by around 15% through voluntary redundancies and the closure of its US operations in Miami as markets ground to a halt following lockdowns.

Those in the business earning more than £50,000 were asked to take a 25% pay cut, and those earning more than £100,000, a 50% cut in wages.

The company said the coronavirus had affected its export sales and had virutally closed its global travel sales channel, following the grounding of airline fleets across the world.

Some of the brands owned by Halewood include Whitley Neill Gin, Liverpool Gin, Lambrini sparkling wine, Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer, as well as vodka, rum and whisky brands.

In a statement issued today, the firm said: “As a business, we are committed to our ongoing strategy of building a range of premium artisanal spirits with strong provenance.

“However, the impact of COVID-19 and the recent abolition of duty dilution has had a major impact on our sales mix, meaning our carbonated drinks have become less profitable.

“Consequently, we are considering outsourcing Lambrini to a contract packer, and moving the production and bottling of Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer to our manufacturing site in Chorley.”

It added: “Despite the impact that COVID-19 has had on the business and the industry as a whole, we are still seeing strong UK and international growth for our core premium artisanal spirits brands, including Whitley Neill Gin, the UK’s number 1 premium gin brand, the fast growing Dead Man’s Fingers range of rums, JJ Whitley vodka and Crabbie whisky, and we will continue to focus on building these brands.”

The business employs around 1,000 staff in total, including more than 500 in the North West. No specific number has been given for its new redundancies’ target.

In May, 2018, the business put itself up for sale, having hired international business advisor Rothschild to look at the options.