The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
West Midlands; Shropshire and Staffordshire; Stoke-on-Trent
Location of affected unit(s)
Burslem
Sector
Manufacturing Manufacture Of Rubber And Plastic Products And Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products Manufacture Of Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products 23.41 - Manufacture of ceramic household and ornamental articles
525 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
15 December 2004
Employment effect (start)
Foreseen end date
Description
Royal Doulton had announced plans to close its Nile Street factory in Burslem, Stoke, with the loss of 525 jobs and put the remaining British production into south east Asia. However, Irish Tycoon Sir Anthony O'Reilly has tied up a £40 million deal to merge Waterford Wedgwood with Royal Doulton in a move that could save hundreds of jobs in the English Potteries. Dublin-based Waterford said on 14 December 2004 it will now switch this output to the Waterford Wedgwood facility at Barlaston in Stoke, which would mop up spare capacity. Waterford financial director Paul D'Alton said: 'Some but not all of the jobs could be saved.' There were no plans for other 'significant' cuts as a result of the planned merger, he added, which must be agreed at a Waterford extraordinary meeting on 10 January 2005.
Sources
16 December 2004: The Guardian
Citation
Eurofound (2004), Royal Doulton - Waterford Wedgwood, Merger/Acquisition in United Kingdom, factsheet number 60905, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/60905.
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The retail banking sector is fertile ground for studying the impacts of digitalisation on work and employment. Financial services are increasingly provided online, without the intermediary of customer-facing institutions.
European labour markets have recovered strongly from COVID-19. By the end of 2021, little more than 18 months after the start of the pandemic, employment rates in the EU were almost at pre-crisis levels.
