Banbury coffee factory plans for change put 280 jobs at risk

A coffee company has announced plans to close part of a factory and potentially put 280 workers at risk of redundancy.

Jacob Douwe Egberts (JDE) in Banbury, Oxfordshire, has proposed closing the processing part of the site and making it a packing facility.

Unite union said the job losses would be "devastating" and it would leave "no stone unturned" in finding an alternative plan.

A JDE spokesperson said that the decision "has not been taken lightly".

The factory workers previously voted in favour of removing the company's "fire and rehire" plans when about 300 staff had been given notices without any consultation.

The new proposals put about 250 roles at risk of redundancy in manufacturing and 30 in the research and development department.

Unite national officer Paul Travers said the potential loss of JDE jobs was "devastating news for its workers and Banbury as a whole".

"We will now be entering consultations with JDE and will leave no stone unturned in seeking alternative plans that are less damaging than the ones put forward," Mr Travers said.

"If jobs do have to go, we will ensure our members' best interests are the priority, including negotiating against compulsory redundancies and for the best possible severance packages."

A company spokesperson said that if the proposals moved forward, they expect that 134 roles will remain at the site.

"This is an important and necessary change, enabling Banbury to remain a key facility in the JDE network," the spokesperson said.

"The industry is operating in a challenging economic environment and there is an overcapacity of freeze-dried coffee in our European factories which is expected to remain.

"Banbury has been, and continues to be, the least cost competitive factory in our network to process coffee."

They added that the decision to stop processing at Banbury "has not been taken lightly" but "changes must be made to improve the competitiveness of the site".

Consultations over the proposals will start on 28 November for a minimum of 45 days.

Banbury MP Victoria Prentis said she would be discussing the redundancy plans with the plant director later in the week and urged concerned constituents to get in touch.

She added: "I know this will not have been an easy decision for the management to come to, but JDE like many other companies are faced with having to adapt to some of the challenges associated with rapid advances in technology.

"While this has come as disappointing news given how important the factory is to our town, no official decision has been made at this point."

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