Budelpack will not restart UK pharma operation
devastated by a fire in March, will not reopen.
The company has just informed the staff of Budelpack Rhymney (UK) that will be unable to restart business activities at the plant, based in Rhymney in South Wales. Budelpack Rhymney employs 130 people, serving the pharmaceutical, healthcare and personal and homecare markets.
"Following the outcomes of a feasibility study to restart the plant, the executive board of Budelpack International has concluded that a restart in another building in South Wales is economically unjustifiable," said the company in a statement. The fire caused around €15 million-worth of damage, but no workers were harmed in the blaze.
Budelpack said it is working out a closure plan for the plant, but only a limited number of staff will be offered alternative jobs elsewhere in the Budelpack group.
Andre Nieuwkerk, CEO of Budelpack International, said: "We highly regret this, especially because of the social consequences for the staff involved."
He said the current operating environment in the consumer goods packaging sector - characterised by over capacity and high price pressure, - meant that a new plant investment could not be countenanced."The considerable time it'll take to enable the restart of operations, further influences this negatively," added Nieuwkerk.
Budelpack still operates a UK plant serving the food industry, in March, Cambridgeshire. Its only other pharmaceutical plant, at least for the moment, is based in Hamont-Achel in Belgium and specialises in blistering branded and generic drugs, prefilled syringes and small medical devices, as well as solutions for packing powders, semi-liquids and liquids in formats such as sachets and stickpacks.
