Avon announces 465 job cuts

Factory workers employed by beauty products group Avon were today facing up to the loss of 465 jobs at one of the group’s plants.

The move is part of the US firm’s plans to reorganise its European manufacturing operations, in the UK, Germany and Poland.

The Northampton plant in Britain makes cream, lotion and powder-based beauty products, which Avon said could be made more cheaply in Poland.

John Kitchener, area vice president of the group’s European supply chain said: ‘‘We are acutely aware of the impact of this proposal on our UK manufacturing staff and we are doing everything we can to support those affected through this difficult time.

‘‘The fact is that to meet the growth in demand in our European markets at a competitive cost, we need to reduce overall production costs; currently the cost of manufacturing in the UK is more than double that of Poland.’’

Jerry McDonald, president of Avon UK, said: ‘‘Over half of Avon products sold here in the UK are already manufactured at our facilities in mainland Europe so our customers will not see any difference in the products they buy from us.

‘‘We are absolutely committed to the UK, it’s an extremely important market for Avon and we will continue to provide high quality products at outstanding value to our eight million customers.’’

Avon said it would continue to employ 1,920 people at its UK headquarters in Northampton, its distribution and customer service centre at Corby and its regional sales staff.

The group said it would now enter a 90-day period of consultation with its manufacturing staff. Under the proposal, the manufacturing operations would be phased out over a 12-month period.

A spokeswoman said: ‘‘We will be doing all we can in the consultation to help them find jobs elsewhere.’’