Rigid container manufacturer Nampak Plastics Europe (Newport Pagnell / UK; www.eu.nampak.com) is slashing approximately 80 positions at its Newport Pagnell site. The redundancies are the result of an extensive review of its blow-moulding capacity in the UK and the subsequent decision to cut production because of challenging trade conditions arising from the closure of the liquid milk sites of Dairy Farmers of Britain (Nantwich, Cheshire / UK; www.dairyfarmersofbritain.com), which went into receivership on 3 June.

”It is with great regret that we have made this announcement to our staff at Newport Pagnell,” said Eric Collins, Nampak Plastics’ managing director. “A 30-day consultation period has now been entered into with our workforce and we will support them as much as possible during this time of upheaval and significant change.”

Newport Pagnell will continue to operate as a strategic support plant for Nampak customers. It will employ some 120 staff after the redundancies go into effect. Nampak operates from seven sites in the UK, five of which are in-plant operations on customer sites.