80 jobs to go at Nelson drinks firm

Approximately 80 redundancies are to be made at a Nelson drinks factory.
Cott Beverages where approximately 80 staff members are to be made redundant on Friday.Cott Beverages where approximately 80 staff members are to be made redundant on Friday.
Cott Beverages where approximately 80 staff members are to be made redundant on Friday.

It is understood that the job reductions at Cott Beverages in Lindred Road on the Lomeshaye Industrial Estate are to be implemented by today.

According to Cott’s website, the Nelson site employs 300 people.

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The company acquired Macaw Soft Drinks in 2005, which at the time was the largest privately-owned manufacturer of retailer brand carbonated soft drinks in the UK supplying a number of supermarkets.

It was reported that Cott expected to add £55m. to its UK turnover off the back of the deal.

A spokesman from Cott Beverages in Florida said it was company policy not to comment on specific facilities and did not disclose the number of redundancies, but said the reason for the staff reduction was “challenging trading conditions”.

The spokesman said: “We have highlighted on a number of occasions that the UK high street retail environment and the UK soft drink market is very competitive and that these factors plus adverse Dollar-Pound exchange rates have impacted our UK business unit.

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“More specifically, price gaps between premium energy drink brands and value propositions in the category have narrowed significantly over the past 12-18 months and we have also seen increased soft drink import activity into the United Kingdom from continental Europe aided by the weakening of the Euro against the Pound.

“These factors plus others have led us to develop a multi-year plan to improve the efficiency and cost base of our UK business unit.

“This included the announcement of some headcount reductions during the fourth quarter of 2015 and our announcement of and receipt of planning permission for a new large scale and efficient warehouse at our largest facility in the UK which should be built and completed over the next couple of years.

“These actions are designed to support our low cost high customer service philosophy, a philosophy that has seen us win the Grocer Gold private label beverage supplier of the year award in 2015.”

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