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.
Scottish & Newcastle, a firm that operates in the brewing sector, has announced that it is to close its site in Reading in Berkshire with the loss of 362 jobs. The closure will be implemented by 2010, and production at the Berkshire site will be moved to other plants that the firm operates in the UK. The firm is currently in the process of being acquired by Heineken and Carlsberg, but it is not clear whether this is related to the restructuring announcement.
Management at Scottish & Newcastle attributed the closure to overcapacity in the UK brewing sector and the high costs associated with the Reading site. Trade union Unite described the decision as being motivated by ‘pure shareholder greed’. Trade union representatives are also due to meet managers at the firm to discuss the restructuring shortly. It is reported that the cost of closing the site will amount to approximately 22 million GBP.
Eurofound (2008), Scottish & Newcastle, Closure in United Kingdom, factsheet number 66317, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/66317.