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AkzoNobel (Amsterdam) announced plans to construct a sustainable and “high-tech” manufacturing facility in northeast England to be used for the company’s Decorative Paints operations.
Approximately €110 million ($157 million) is reserved for the site, which will be designed to reduce operating working capital, enable the company to deliver the most efficient supply-chain operations, and accelerate the company’s response to customer demands and the changing market, the company said.
Scheduled for completion by the end of 2014, the plant will be located 25 miles from the global paint and coatings company’s existing production site at Prudhoe.
Plans call for closing the company’s Prudhoe site and manufacturing operations in Slough, UK. Production would be maintained at the required levels prior to operations being transferred.
Before the company makes a final decision on the proposal, it will enter a period of employee consultation, said Richard Stuckes, managing director of AkzoNobel Decorative Paints EMEA.
“If the project goes ahead, there would be relocation possibilities for those with the desired skill-set who wish to transfer to the new site,” he said.
Stuckes added, “This is part of a wide-ranging European strategy designed to strengthen our leadership positions and accelerate sustainable growth. A new facility of this size and sophistication will enable us to be more agile and competitive, while dramatically reducing our impact on the environment due to lower energy consumption and less waste.”
The facility would consume 60% less energy than the company’s current operations, utilizing innovative technologies to recycle and reuse waste and water, the company said.
AkzoNobel currently employs 4,050 people in the UK across all its business, with revenue for 2010 totaling €798 million ($1.1 billion). Within the company’s Decorative Paints business unit, 89 people are employed at the Prudhoe site and 131 are employed in the Slough manufacturing plant.
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