200 jobs to go at Cadbury factory

Around 200 jobs are to be cut at a Cadbury chocolate factory.

US owners Mondelez said the redundancies in Bournville, Birmingham, will be voluntary and will be phased in over the next two years.

A statement said: “From the outset, we have been clear that to secure the £75 million investment and therefore the next generation of manufacturing at Bournville, we will need to become cost competitive. During consultation, we agreed that this would mean fewer people working in Bournville in the future than there are today.

“Our preference is always to look for voluntary redundancies to achieve any reductions. Through conversations with our workforce, a number of employees have asked for voluntary redundancy, indicating that we can achieve the necessary reductions through a voluntary approach.

“We have been clear as part of consultation that we need everyone to play their part if we are to secure the next generation of manufacturing at Bournville.”

Mondelez announced a proposed £75 million investment at Bournville a year ago to build four state-of-the-art lines for making chocolate bars and chocolate assortments, such as Heroes and Roses.

Consultations started with employees on how to make Bournville competitive to secure the investment and the future of the site.

Bournville is the biggest Mondelez factory in the UK and makes popular Cadbury brands including Dairy Milk and creme eggs.