McBride to cut a quarter of UK staff
MCBRIDE is to cut a quarter of its 1,600-strong UK workforce in response to sluggish sales.
The group, which makes household and personal care products, said today it is planning to shed 400 jobs save £12m over the next two years.
It did not say where the axe would fall but it has one of its largest production sites in Middleton, Manchester, as well as sites in Barrow, Bradford and Hull. In 2011 it announced a raft of redundancies and corporate changes which included the closure of a Burnley factory.
McBride expects the cutbacks to cost £14m and as part of the review it is impairing its UK assets by £21m. There are also one-off costs in Europe contributing to total exceptional charges of £37m this financial year and £7m in 2015.
In a trading update for the year to June, McBride said operating profit would be in line with its expectations, but full-year revenues are down by 3%. Private label sales – items manufactured for other brands – were flat, although stronger in parts of Continental Europe than in the UK, and contract revenue was down 20%.
Chief executive Chris Bull said: “We are announcing a robust plan that will help restore our UK profitability. We will exit some business in non-core un-profitable categories, but our capacity to meet growth opportunities in our core categories remains unaffected. We will be entering into full and meaningful consultation with colleagues affected by these proposals.”
