UPM confirm 121 have been lost at Shotton paper.

UPM has confirmed today that 121 jobs will be shed at its UPM Shotton Paper Mill as the company looks to improve profit across Europe.

An employee consultation processes concerning plans to close one newsprint machine at Shotton has now concluded and production will cease at the end of March leaving 121 employees, just under half the workforce out of work.

UPM Shotton employs 370 people and manufactures standard newsprint, the paper used for newspapers and magazines, the company is looking to reduce production across Europe by 800,000 tonnes as it aims to increase profits by £115,000 -the reduction reflects the terminal decline within the printed press as newspapers and magazines move to digital platforms.

Machines will also close at UPM Kaukas and UPM Jämsänkoski in Finland bring the total job loses in the three plants across Europe to 373,  jobs will also go within its UK supply chain operations at Altrincham in Cheshire. 

Bernd Eikens, Executive Vice President, UPM Paper ENA:

“These decisions are unfortunate for the personnel involved, and the past months have been challenging for all of us. From the business point of view, the measures taken are necessary to improve our operating rates and profitability in the European paper business, which still suffers from overcapacity. By reducing capacity we ensure the efficient use of our remaining machines in Europe,” 

Production on Shotton papers other machine will not be affected by the changes originally announced back in November 2014