Member Article

Chesapeake moves jobs to Tyneside

MULTINATIONAL packaging firm Chesapeake is to shift one of its major divisions to the North East from Bradford, leaving 145 staff in Yorkshire with the option of moving to Tyneside.

The firm has reportedly entered a 90-day consultation with its Bradford-based staff as it prepares to move its litho carton division because its current home is too old to be upgraded.

The move looks set to result in new investment in its Killingworth plant, which is manned by 250 employees, and marks a rapid turnaround for the site that faced the treat of closure as recently as 2007.

Chesapeake produces packaging for top food brands including Cadbury’s and Nestlé.

Corporate marketing and communications manager Bob Houghton was reported as saying: “This isn’t about skills or attitude, the guys at Bradford are impeccable, this is about the age of the building, which was built in the 1930s.

“We really hope that as many people as possible opt to move – it is not standard carton production at the site, it is more complex and these are really skilled people that we want to keep.”

The company will maintain a presence in Bradford through its gravure, finishing, administration and corporate departments, which encompass around 150 staff based at a second, more modern factory in the area.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .