Unilever will close the factories in Delft, Loosdrecht and Vlaardingen. This was announced by the organisation yesterday. According to Unilever all three factories operate at higher costs then other Unilever factories in Europe. By closing these facilities 474 jobs are lost. The three factories close at the end of 2008.

In August Unilever announced its reorganisation plans, the announcement made yesterday is part of these plans. The aim of the reorganisation is to expand the competition force and to accelerate growth by focussed investments and cost reduction.

Chairman of the direction Unilever Netherlands Holding, Kees van der Waaij, says to realise that this intention will have a great impact on the employees in the Netherlands. “That is why I find it important to emphasis that the Netherlands remains an important country for Unilever. We have invested over 60 million euro in factories in the Netherlands the last five years.”

Source: EVMI