The future of hundreds of jobs hangs in the balance as Fareva, a firm located at the Boots site in Nottingham, has revealed plans to halt production.
The company, known for manufacturing products such as Number 7 cosmetics, has initiated discussions with employees at its Thane Road factory in Beeston.
Fareva cited the economic fallout from political instability in Europe and the Covid pandemic as significant factors impacting its business.
The company is considering relocating all production activities to its alternate factory in Wales.
The proposed move would result in the creation of 150 new roles at the Pontyclun site in Wales, with Nottingham staff given priority. Fareva, a French pharmaceutical company, acquired BCM (Boots Contract Manufacturing) in 2017.
The D10 factory has been responsible for producing products like Soltan and Strepsils, as well as branch products for supermarkets and pharmacies. Despite the changes, the company confirmed that its product testing service, research and development, commercial and procurement activities would continue at the Grade I-listed site.
A Fareva spokesperson commented on the challenging circumstances brought about by Covid and recent political unrest in Europe. The company has seen a decrease in production volumes as some customers have shifted production in-house, and remaining business volumes are lower than pre-Covid levels.
The company acknowledged that the downturn in business has resulted in spare capacity at its sites. Fareva will now begin a period of collective consultation with staff whose roles are affected.
While production is set to continue until 2024, the company has stated that no redundancies would be made until early next year.
The news has been met with concerns from the union Usdaw and local MP for Broxtowe, Darren Henry, both of whom have pledged to support the affected employees.
Area organiser for trade union USDAW, Mark Wheatley, said: “We will now enter into consultation talks with the company, where we will interrogate the business case for their decision.
“In the meantime we are providing our members with the support, advice and representation they require at the very difficult time, as we seek to secure the best deal possible.”
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