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Colman's Norwich factory closure in 2019 confirmed

BBC Colman's mustardBBC
Workers at the Colman's factory in Norwich are at risk of redundancy

Mustard maker Colman's has confirmed it will close its base in Norwich, where the condiment has been produced for 160 years.

Parent company Unilever, which employs 113 people at the factory, revealed in January plans to shut it down.

A transition period of moving production from Norwich to Burton-upon-Trent and Germany will begin in autumn and continue until the end of 2019.

Around 40 roles are expected to be transferred to Burton.

Those employees based at the Norwich factory are now at risk of redundancy.

But Unilever said it plans to open a new milling facility near Norwich for the production and packing of Colman's mustard powder.

Norfolk County Council Colman's factory, NorwichNorfolk County Council
The Colman's factory has been on the site since 1858
Getty Images Norwich City's Carrow Road being built in 1935Getty Images
Colman's advertising in evidence as workers build Norwich City's new Carrow Road ground in 1935

Fears of a closure had been raised when Britvic, which shares the site in Carrow with Colman's, announced in October it was leaving and transferring production of Robinsons and Fruit Shoot elsewhere in the UK.

Colman's, which has been making mustard at the site since 1858, became part of Unilever's Van Den Bergh Foods in 1995.

Jon Strachan, from Unilever UK & Ireland, said the decision "represents the best long-term solution for Colman's production, whilst preserving the historic link with Norwich".

He added the company would offer affected employees a "comprehensive package of support, including discussing redeployment opportunities at other sites and providing services to help people find new employment."