Fareva has told a Nottinghamshire MP that plans will be put in place for hundreds of employees if they lose their jobs. The company, which makes Boots products at its Beeston headquarters, announced proposals to move manufacturing away from the historic site on Friday, June 30.
Products including the No 7 and Soltan ranges would instead be manufactured at factories in Wales and France if current plans go ahead. Nottinghamshire Live understands around 800 staff are based at the D10 building, where the French firm manufactures Boots products, with a consultation process having now started for all of them.
Local leaders previously expressed worries over the plans and now the area's MP has issued an update. Darren Henry, Conservative MP for Broxtowe, met with the Head of Human Resources and the Vice Principal for Commercial at Fareva on Tuesday, July 4, to raise his concerns.
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"I have had assurance from Fareva that there will be no immediate redundancies, but if they do close, full plans will be put in place for those currently employed by them," Mr Henry said, after the meeting.
"They talked me through the consultation period they will be having with staff and if the decision does go ahead, there may be opportunities for some staff to relocate and there will likely be a few remaining on-site. I have also talked with Boots and there may be new job opportunities with them in Broxtowe. This is a worrying time for those involved, I will continue to do all I can to look after the livelihoods of those in Broxtowe and will send updates if news develops."
Fareva first acquired the manufacturing arm of Boots, known as BCM, in 2017. The move was hailed at the time as a "new and exciting chapter", but concerns were expressed by unions about the future of jobs at the Boots headquarters. The same unions expressed devastation after plans to "consolidate" Fareva's business operation.
The company said its UK bases now have "spare capacity" and so all production activities would transfer to sites including Fillcare, Fareva's factory in Wales. Product testing, research and development, commercial and procurement activities for Boots would all still take place in Nottingham.
Production in the D10 building would continue for at least another year, with Fareva adding that it does "not expect to make any colleagues redundant until early next year." The end of the year-long transition period would herald the end of all Boots manufacturing in Nottingham for the first time since John Boot founded the company in 1849.
