Re: End Of Another British Institution
 

What are the wages like there? Most firms move production like this because of cheaper wages not taxes, which saves them huge amounts.

Theres nothing Blair could have done realistically, he can't bail certain companies out that wouldn't be fair on the others.

Re: End Of Another British Institution
 

Course he can't bail companies out Cyfr ... just that as the title... a great British Institution .. another creaming off of our past skills .. H.P. did mean Houses of Parliament after all. Moral loss, besides job loss ... very sad.

Re: End Of Another British Institution
 

I noticed HP is owned by Heinz...the location/country where a product is made is of no relevance whatsoever to a multi-national conglomerate. Heinz say they have to make £25 million of savings?.. the HP factory must have been running at a loss, i can't work out how moving production to Holland will save money, but I don't think Dutch workers are paid any lower than British.

Re: End Of Another British Institution
 

It's all down to production lines, switch overs and transport costs.

If the production lines in Holland run faster than the ones over here or need less people to man them then they are more efficient so cheaper. If the product line can be cleaned quicker and the bulk shipping costs are more efficient than in the UK they are going to transfer. It could be down to 24 hr working - cheaper to have one factory working 24 hours rather than two factories working 12 hours - less management and infrastructure.

These big companies have to go with what the shareholders want and so I doubt the government could intervene. It would be nice if they could and keep the jobs in the UK.

Re: End Of Another British Institution
 

An aside:

Does anyone remember Hoe's Sauce? It used to be my father's (and my) favorite.