11:05am Thursday 14th March 2002
By Frankie Taggart
DOUBT remains this week over how many workers at a Chesham factory will be axed after the company announced it was streamlining its workforce.
Nicholl Food Packaging, of Asheridge Road, is to shed 88 of its 238 jobs, but the company told the Free Press this week there are still no indications as to how many of these will go through forced redundancies.
NFD spokesman James Windle said: "It's a bit early to say how many voluntary redundancies there will be. Last week was the start of the process and by the end of this month we will be more sure of what the situation is."
The company, which has plants in the West Midlands and Derbyshire and has a turnover of £65 million, came to Chesham just six months ago after buying out Ekco Packaging, which had been in the town for 32 years.
At the time of the takeover NFP said: "Ekco employed more than 400 people at its headquarters in Chesham, in Portsmouth, and at its European operations, and there are no plans for staff reductions."
NFD is planning to shed the staff by the end of March, and commercial director Anrew Dent told the Free Press: "When Nicholl Food Packaging purchased the Ekco Group last year there were no immediate plans for staff reductions.
"However, after a detailed examination of the company's performance and structure, we are being forced to restructure and make a number of employees redundant to maintain the viability of the business."
NFP manufactures aluminium containers for the baking industry, the catering, fast food and ethnic take-away trade and institutional caterers.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.times-series.co.uk