Specialist foam producer foam Sekisui Alveo (Lucerne / Switzerland; www.sekisuialveo.com) has completed the transfer of one of its two European production lines from Merthyr Tydfil / Wales to Roermond / The Netherlands.

The project included the relocation of machinery, an unspecified investment in a new building and the recruitment and training of new operators. Eiji Tateo, Sekisui Aleveo’s chief executive, said the decision to relocate production was based on what he called “a comprehensive business review undertaken by the firm in order to secure sustainable and profitable growth in an increasingly challenging market environment. The expansion of the Roermond plant gives us the economies of scale we need for more cost-efficient production and puts us in the position to invest further in the development of new applications and innovative new products,” he added.

In the run-up to the UK leaving the European Union in March 2019, a number of global firms with operations in the UK have looked at moving out of the country and into continental Europe. However, since Sekisui Alveo, a subsidiary of the Japan-based Sekisui Chemical Company, had already resolved to relocate in 2015, the Brexit was not a factor in the decision to transfer the Welsh production line across the Channel.

Following the Netherlands move, Sekisui Alveo, which employs around 500 staff and has annual revenues of about EUR 140m, now has two plants in mainland Europe, the other being at Bad Sobernheim / Germany.