Svenska is restructuring, warns some 3,600 job losses in U.K. |
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Sun, 28 Aug 2005 06:05
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LONDON: Hygiene products maker Svenska Cellulosa, which is into restructuring of its operations, has warned that its workforce in Britain will be the hardest hit -- may 3,600 will lose jobs. The company employs some 7,000 staff at 30 sites in the U.K., mostly in Edinburgh, London, Northampton, Darlington and Portsmouth.
The restructuring could also hit the company's operations in Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands, it said. The company, hit by tough market conditions and overcapacity, is trying to reduce costs through a restructuring, mostly cutting down its global workforce of 50,000 in 50 countries by 7 per cent.
The company's products include Velvet toilet paper, Tena incontinence pads and Bodyform sanitary towels. It had cut its staff by 1,200 in 2004.
A company spokesperson, saying the UK, would be among the worst-hit countries, disclosed that the company is negotiating with the employee unions.
Svenska runs a "forest products" division that makes the pulp used in nappies and incontinence pads. In the U.K. three units are part of the forest products division, while the others are into packaging and hygiene. Established in 1929 as a holding company for 10 forest industry units making paper and pulp in Sweden, it entered hygiene products in 1975.
The restructuring is understood to involve phasing out 7 per cent of its tissue production and 17 per cent of cardboard liner capacity, while writing down 168 million pounds of plants and equipment. The company intends to complete the process -- estimated to cost around 256 million pounds -- by end-quarter 1, 2007.
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