For anyone based in East Anglia, more importantly Norfolk, this will be devastating. Not just asking the locals but anyone and everyone, please share this amounts any and every social media you may be part of.

The more signatures we can get the bigger our voice we have.

https://www.change.org/p/britvic-and-unile...utopublish

The trouble with petitions against Company financial decisions, is completely different to political or general type petitions, and most of those don’t have any effect, when things that used to be British it was different, now many companies are sold on, move production where it’s cheaper to ensure they can make the profits required for both the Company, shareholders and workers by keeping them with work. These decisions are not taken lightly but are generally fully sorted before announcements. For many products it’s become to expensive to still make in UK for all sorts of reasons, including far more modern facilities with cheaper labour etc than here in UK.
Some jobs were meant to go to Sharnbrook Beds, but those working there have been told all the sites are being put up for sale, mainly Walls/Unilever products, scientific research etc.

Best of luck, but not the first and won’t be the last to move elsewhere or cease trading altogether.  John

RRS MY12 SDV6 HSE. Sumatra Black/Ebony & Walnut + Dynamic Pack, + Cold Climate Pack + Memory Pack, Digital TV/DVD, Premium Leather, Cornering Lights, Cooler/Fridge Box, & most Options.

Britvic have for definite pulled out they will be going by the end of 2019, Unilever (who I work for) are now undertaking an 8 week review. We aren’t holding our breath because of the situation with the site share. Unless someone else comes along and takes up the empty spaces with a new production of sorts, but as the bigwigs told us the one off agreement Unilever and Britvic had as far as site services were concerned was exactly that a one off. So they don’t see anyone else wishing to come in and start a fresh agreement. The best thing for us would be for Unilever to sell off the brand and let someone else take us on, but Colmans is a brand leader in the uk and makes good, i mean very good profits (once slipped out, up to 30% profit with the next of Unilever’s brands with in the uk making only 12%). We aren’t holding our breath, or naive enough to think that anything other than what we think will be the outcome is closure of the site and ship out the different products to different companies all over the world. English Mustard will not be the same, the machines used to clean dry and mill the seed are pretty much bespoke and made of wood, oh and as near dammit 100 years old! So it can’t be moved, can’t be replicated due to modern food safety regulations and no one else mills mustard dry, no one else world wide! Everyone else wet mills. We celebrated 200yrs back in 2014 sad to say it won’t make 206 yrs!

My ex wife was/is a Senior Research manager at Unilever Sharnbrook, and she said at times the decision was made well before then, she had to close complete departments down, to then transfer overseas. Not helpful I know, hope you get a relocation package or something strong makes them viable to stay.  John

RRS MY12 SDV6 HSE. Sumatra Black/Ebony & Walnut + Dynamic Pack, + Cold Climate Pack + Memory Pack, Digital TV/DVD, Premium Leather, Cornering Lights, Cooler/Fridge Box, & most Options.

Sorry to hear. I doubt the letter will even be seen by the powers that be. I hate what globalization is doing to this country, manufacturing loses we have made over the decades. Engineering skills we are short on in replacement for studying soft subjects. I for one would be happy to pay % more for british products made in and supporting the british economy. These globals just dodge tax and bring misery. Protectionist nationalism on the rise. I'll take my pill's and go back to bed now.