Cadbury plans to axe 5,500 jobs

Monday, 27 October 2003 12:00 AM

Cadbury Schweppes has announced plans to slash its global workforce by ten per cent.

The company employs an estimated 55,000 people worldwide and plans to reduce the number of its 133 factories by 20 per cent.

The group's main UK factory is in Birmingham and the company employs 7,000 workers in Britain. Chief executive Todd Stitzer has declined to say how many jobs will be lost in the UK as a result of the cuts.

Mr Stitzer said: "As and when we take action, people will be spoken to sensitively and thoughtfully."
The redundancies are part of a drive by the Cadbury Schweppes to save £400 million a year by 2007.

The company revealed last month that trading in its financial year to the end of December would be broadly similar to its performance in the first half.

Confectionary sales across Europe and the US were hit by this summer's heatwave and Cadbury's pre-tax profits fell by five per cent on the first half of the year.

Cadbury acquired confectionery group Adams for £2.6 billion in March. The group's brands currently include Dr Pepper, Snapple, Trebor and Bassett.

Adams brands include Halls, Trident, Dentyne and Bubbas bubble gum.

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