Waterford Wedgwood axes 1,400
IRISH crystal and ceramic group Waterford Wedgwood is to shed 1,400 jobs at its plants, shops and offices in Britain, Ireland and Germany as sales tumble in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center.
The axe will fall heaviest in the Midlands, with 500 going at sites around Stoke-on-Trent and 220 at its crystal manufacturing plant in Stourbridge. A further 400 staff will go from retail and administrative positions across the UK, 100 in Ireland, with the rest in Germany, Australia, Japan and the US. The job losses were 'vital to underpin longer-term profitability', Waterford said.
The job losses and closures follow a 4.5% decline in sales in the 10 months ending in October.
Redmond O'Donoghue has been appointed group chief executive, with Tony O'Reilly junior appointed chief executive of Wedgewood.
A one-off restructuring charge of e23m (£14m) will hit the group as a result of the factory closures. It will cost e20m to close shops, warehouses and offices.
Sales for the ten months to the end of October were 4.5% down on the year, with September sales off 15%. Trading was expected to remain 'challenging', it added. With the fourth quarter traditionally the most important, 'the projected softness in demand is likely to have a disproportionate impact on overall 2001 profitability'.
