THE proposed closure of the Britvic bottled water plant in Huddersfield is a bitter blow every way you look at it.
And the decision to shut has to be questioned as the group’s profits continue to soar.
The move will bring to an end a history stretching right back to Ben Shaws in 1894 when the Birkby works was hailed as “one of the finest mineral water manufactories in the Kingdom.”
The move will also mean an end to part of our heritage with the Pennine Spring brand to go – another link to Huddersfield gone forever.
And although Britvic has unveiled a 51% increase in group pre-tax profits for the first half-year to £37.5m from £24.8m it’s done a deal to move its Fruit Shoot production to India.
This means at the end of this cost-cutting measure the losers will be Huddersfield, part of our heritage and the UK itself, undercut by overseas competition.
But that will be nothing compared to the desolation felt by the 40 Huddersfield employees, many of whom will have worked for the company for many years.
It’s an exceptionally sad day for the town and we can only hope that Britvic lives up to its promise to support affected employees as much as needed.
I’m sure they will let us know if they feel that promise has not been fulfilled.
