Unilever to axe 140 jobs at Port Sunlight

Sep 20 2007 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

Lever Brothers factory at Port Sunlight _320

UNILEVER has announced plans to axe 140 jobs from the factory where it all began.

The Unilever site at Port Sunlight – a village built by the company’s founder to house his workers - employs more than 1,000 people.

The company has announced plans for 140 redundancies at their Wirral site and a further 60 in Warrington.

However, it also says it plans to invest £15m at both sites to improve technology and secure their future.

Wirral South MP Ben Chapman said the move is "obviously a cause of considerable concern".

Mr Chapman said: "Port Sunlight is the place where Unilever began and its influence on Wirral South is historic and deep.

"That these job losses need to occur is unfortunate, especially for those directly involved. But in manufacturing sites must remain competitive and Port Sunlight has been facing a variety of pressures. The £15m investment that secures the site is welcome."

This morning an email told local councillors in Wirral that they had been carrying out a review recently at the Port Sunlight factory to find measures to improve the company’s performance.

The email said: "These are designed to ensure our manufacturing operations in the North West are sustainable into the future.

"Port Sunlight and Warrington sourcing units are well placed to continue as strategic centres within Unilever. We are committed to continued investment in both sites and will invest a further £15m over the course of the next two years to improve technology and capability."

At the company’s Warrington site around 260 people are employed, with 1,300 working at Port Sunlight of which around 1,000 are directly employed by Unilever.

The announcement added: "We will do all we can to explore any viable alternatives to compulsory redundancies but at this stage we cannot rule this out."

Unilever said the changes being announced in the North West are part of a wider programme of change within its UK supply chain and the company is also announcing restructuring at its Burton factory, with reviews being undertaken at other sites in Purfleet in Essex, Leeds and Crumlin in Wales.

Joao Ribeiro, Port Sunlight & Warrington works director, commented: "Full consultation with employees and union representatives will get underway immediately.

"This change will take 12 months to complete and throughout this period we will be offering an extensive employee support programme to assist all staff."