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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Colman's to leave Norwich base after 160 years | Colman's to leave Norwich base after 160 years |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Mustard maker Colman's is to leave its base in Norwich where the condiment has been produced for 160 years. | Mustard maker Colman's is to leave its base in Norwich where the condiment has been produced for 160 years. |
| Colman's, which employs 113 people at its site in the city, will move its production to Burton-on-Trent and Germany. | Colman's, which employs 113 people at its site in the city, will move its production to Burton-on-Trent and Germany. |
| The GMB union described the closure as "absolutely devastating news". | The GMB union described the closure as "absolutely devastating news". |
| The union said 43 jobs would be transferred to the Burton site, with 20 moving to a new facility opening in Norwich for milling mustard seeds. | The union said 43 jobs would be transferred to the Burton site, with 20 moving to a new facility opening in Norwich for milling mustard seeds. |
| Fears of a closure had been raised when Britvic, who shares the site in Carrow with Colman's, announced it was leaving last October and transferring its production of Robinsons and Fruit Shoot to elsewhere in the UK. | Fears of a closure had been raised when Britvic, who shares the site in Carrow with Colman's, announced it was leaving last October and transferring its production of Robinsons and Fruit Shoot to elsewhere in the UK. |
| The company said in December it had reviewed its operations in light of Britvic's closure proposal. | The company said in December it had reviewed its operations in light of Britvic's closure proposal. |
| 'Difficult news' | |
| Colman's, which has been making mustard at the site since 1858, became part of Unilever's Van Den Bergh Foods in 1995. | Colman's, which has been making mustard at the site since 1858, became part of Unilever's Van Den Bergh Foods in 1995. |
| Unilever said in a statement it recognised it would be "difficult news" for staff and the people of Norwich and it was "committed to supporting" its employees. | |
| Jon Strawn, vice president of Unilever in the UK, said moving some operations to Burton was the "best option" for the company. | |
| He added: "We wanted to maintain the historic link between Colman's and Norwich and therefore we are also proposing that we invest in a new state-of-the-art-facility in the local area where we will mill and pack our mustard powder and also process our mint. | |
| "That will ensure that we continue to source and grow our mint and mustard here locally which we've done for generations." | |
| 'Truly awful' | |
| Clive Lewis, Labour MP for the Norwich South, described recent weeks as a "truly awful festive period for hundreds of Norwich food manufacturing workers and their families". | |
| Chloe Smith, the Conservative MP for Norwich North, said Unilever's decision was "bitterly disappointing". | |
| A consortium of mustard and mint growers from Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire has said it will enter into a new long-term partnership with Unilever. | |
| David Martin, chief executive of the Grower's Consortium, said: "This partnership will allow us to jointly develop a new state-of-the-art facility near Norwich. | |
| "We expect that the facility will create around 25 jobs and will open up new possibilities for the future." |