Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
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.
Imerys, the china clay company that announced in July 2006 that it was making 785 redundant in Cornwall and Devon, has one month later (in August 2006) announced that there will be fewer redundancies made. Company spokesman Ashley Shopland has now said (October 2006) that the site in Cornwall will lose 521 whilst 86 jobs will be lost in Devon. Imerys, which currently employs about 2,000 workers in the region, says the changes are necessary to protect the future of its business. Some of the current operations will be moved to Brazil. Imerys has blamed high energy prices, a weak dollar and strong overseas competition for significant losses. Ashley Shopland, operations director for Imerys, in an update in October 2006 said: 'It is clearly a very positive and welcome development in what is a very difficult process. We've been able to mitigate the number of job losses to just over 600 and now it looks, for at least 60% of those, it's going to be achieved by voluntary means.' In a further update Imreys has now announced (August 2007) that it is to make about 100 compulsory redundancies out of the potential 607 job cuts. Managers at Imerys said hundreds of staff had already found new jobs, and others had taken voluntary redundancy.
Eurofound (2006), Imerys, Offshoring/Delocalisation in United Kingdom, factsheet number 63157, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/63157.