Carton and packaging giant Tetra Pak has recently launched a consultation on the future of its Wrexham site, stating that it is “driven by a desire to ensure continued competitiveness and to meet customers’ changing needs”.
According to the consultation, the organisation is planning on retaining around 135 jobs in Wrexham. At present, the Wrexham workforce represents around half the number of staff Tetra Pak employs in the UK.
Rik Jacobs, the managing director for the company for Ireland and the UK, stated: “We intend to create over 20 new jobs to operate a finished goods warehouse to better service the UK and Irish markets and ensure we are in the right shape for future growth.”
With local customers moving away from cartons towards other packaging formats, Tetra Pak stated, the Wrexham site has been able to replace lost local business with export orders, which accounted for around 50% of production in the last year.
However, new facilities that have been set up in locations such as Russia and the Middle East mean that many of these export markets will effectively disappear in the coming year, and demand from UK and Irish consumers alone will not justify the continued running of the Wrexham site.
Mr Jacobs explained that it had been a difficult decision, and that if the proposals are implemented, there would inevitably be “significant restructuring and job losses”.
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