Is any Manufacturing safe in the UK ?

Heliospherez

Heliospherez

Heliospherez

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Even the chocolate manufacturers are leaving.....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7025413.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/4335967.stm


My Dad worked for Mars in Slough for 28 years - the factory has been there for nearly 80 years.... his dept was one of the ones shipped off to the Czech republic two years ago (along with 700 odd jobs). He is retired from them 15 odd years, & every year he receives less and less from them due to there cost savings (when he first retired - they would send retirees a hamper every christmas, then it was £50, then £25 - no he gets a christmas card and a letter saying they can't afford anything ??? - Even though they make hundreds of millions profit)

Now Cadbury are saying they are moving some production to Poland (another 700 jobs gone).

I think its time I started eating some homemade chocolate.
 
The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. :(
It's a sad state of affairs, obviously their profit margins are just not big enough :mad:
It's quite funny on one hand; because we have so much immigration into this country, yet we're losing so many jobs to Eastern Europe, India etc etc.
 
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In responce to the thread title, it is not safe, chocolate production is not the only manufacturing to go. I work for pfizer and they have announced all manufacturing is moving abroad from sandwich (in kent) :( and they dont seem to batter an eyelid that loads of people will loose their job, just so they can reach they 200% profity :@ grrr
 
Not all manufacturing in the Uk is doomed, only that which can be done elsewhere for less. We're in a global economy now, and sometimes moving manufacturing is necessary to ensure future viability of the company against competitors and so on.

Doesn't mean the situation in the OP is correct, I won't comment on that as I don't know much about the industry and the background, but sometimes it's simply not possible to keep expensive, uk based manufacturing facilities and maintain the company's viability... Losing manufacturing is still preferable to losing the whole company.
 
It's hard to understand where the money consumers spend actually comes from theses days.

Yes I know about the city and all that, but what does the average joe do?
 
sbi5ar said:
In responce to the thread title, it is not safe, chocolate production is not the only manufacturing to go. I work for pfizer and they have announced all manufacturing is moving abroad from sandwich (in kent) :( and they dont seem to batter an eyelid that loads of people will loose their job, just so they can reach they 200% profity :@ grrr
Click to expand...


Why should they? A company will look at its profit margin and try to make it as big as possible.
Why make less, when it's possible to make more? ^_^
 
Guess Cadbury's will be going on my list of companies to boycott as well (good job I don't like their chocolate anyway - horrible sugary muck for kids).
 
They are closing down the manufacturing plant i work (electrical cabling). Moving it all to Poland + Mexico.

I think manufaturing in the UK is doomed.
 
We haven't really been a manufacturing economy for a fair while now.

Our kids are growing up in a throw away & replace society, in probably one generations time no one will be able to fix anything, they'll just replace it.
 
The company I work for shipped 95% of its manufacturing/production (assembly) from York to China/South Korea.

Sure, costs have been reduced but so has the quality/reliability of our products.

Won't somebody think of the planet?! Think of all the carbon emissions from transporting choccie goodness back to the UK.

Not that I care, but considering the hysteria about becoming carbon neutral....
 
Cadbury to move jobs to Poland

Cadbury Schweppes has announced that it is to move part of its UK operation to Poland as it axes 700 job in the first wave of a £300m cost-cutting programme.

The maker of Dairy Milk is closing its chocolate factory in Keynsham, Somerset, where all 500 employees will lose their jobs by 2010.

Cadbury plans to move some of the Keynsham production to Poland where it already has a factory, and plans to axe a further 200 jobs from its Bourneville factory in Birmingham after part of its function move to Poland next year.
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It is the first step of the company's broader plan to cut 15pc of its factory staff and 15pc of its confectionery staff, which was announced in June.

Managing director Trevor Bond said that despite moving some production over to Poland it did not spell the end for Cadbury in the UK.

"In order to continue to compete in the extremely competitive confectionery industry in the future we need to make the right decisions today.

"Whilst the proposed closure of our Keynsham factory will be difficult for those affected our ongoing commitment to manufacturing in the UK is absolute," he said.

The closure of Keynsham will be phased throughout 2009, while the redundancies in Bourneville will be phased from next year until 2010.

On a brighter note Cadbury said that it would be investing £40m into the remaining Bourneville operation, despite the redundancies.

The company is still working on plans to demerge its drinks business, famous for brands including 7-Up and Dr Pepper. It's preferred route was a sale to private equity but the company has shelved those plans because of the turbulence in the global financial markets.

As a result, over the 2008 to 2011 period we expect to close around 15% of our manufacturing sites around the world and reduce our headcount by 15%.
 
This factory is right on my doorstep. I cannot think of a larger employer in the local vicinity. This is going to have a nasty knock-on effect for my area.
 
Yep it sucks, especially as it made them a nice profit and exceeded production targets. At least people have a while to find new jobs and I expect many will leave through natural attrition.
 
Hopefully new business will come to the Cadbury site generating a lot of work.

I think Nestle have a factory out towards Trowbridge so doubt they would be interested. Perhaps another confectioner. That would be best for the locals round here.

I hate the way big companies treat the staff as numbers. OK so a facotry worker is low down on the pecking order, however without them you wouldnt make 1p let alone millions of pounds. I understand business well but disagree with constant cost-cutting via outsourcing work abroad.

A lot of companies are now returning to UK call centres, I believe the same will happen with select manufacturing industries (such as food). I am not saying electronics, car parts etc... will be made in the UK but certain things we are just excellent at making. Sweets being one of them.

O/T- David, how did your work situation pan out after Indesit left you out cold?
 
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it was bad enough when Cadburys bought Frys and they got rid of people in Keynsham but total shut down its a bit mental!

Need to put up a big sign at the entrance to the factory "New Housing Estate HERE Soon"
 
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