Cardiff Factory Casualty of Gallaher Sale

Source from:  tr.itsmyiq.com Sep 28, 2007 09/29/2007

JT International (JTI) plans to close its cigar factory in Cardiff, UK, within two years. Parent company, Japan Tobacco Inc (JT), which made the announcement yesterday, said the decision to close the factory had been made following an extensive review of the manufacturing operations and market conditions in the UK, conducted as part of the plan for integrating Gallaher into JTI. Gallaher was acquired by JT in April. The Cardiff factory, which was established in 1961, manufactures about 330 million cigars annually. Based on current plans, the factory will cease operations in September 2009. The decision will affect 184 jobs. Most of Cardiff's production will be transferred to the Lisnafillan factory in Northern Ireland, where up to 95 new jobs are expected to be created. Employees of the Cardiff and Lisnafillan factories were advised of the company's plans yesterday, when consultations were started with relevant employment organizations. JT said that as was standard practice with JTI, all affected employees would be offered 'fair and generous treatment'. The closure of the Cardiff factory will reduce the number of JTI factories worldwide from 33 to 32. Enditem