Boots to cut 300 production jobs

High street healthcare retailer Alliance Boots is to shed 300 jobs from a manufacturing site in Nottingham.

Bosses said the loss of a major skincare product contract meant the manufacturing arm of Boots in Beeston would have to be "streamlined".

A spokesperson said the losses from the 7,000-strong site would be achieved through a combination of "natural wastage and voluntary redundancy".

The losses are expected to happen over an 18-month period.

Cost effective

"In January we announced the loss of a major contract with a third party customer which means in 2008 a large amount of work in our factory will cease," an Alliance Boots spokesperson said.

"Over the last couple of months we have been working hard with our people to look at ways to maintain the cost effectiveness of the manufacturing facility in Nottingham.

"Over the coming months we will be consulting with our people on the proposals for how we will achieve this reduction."

A spokesperson from USDAW - the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, said: "Any redundancies are regrettable but we are at a very early stage of the consultation process with the company.

"It (Alliance Boots) has made it clear that any redundancies will be through voluntary and natural wastage.

"The announcement may cause some of them distress and clearly they need to speak to us to help them through any difficulty and keep them informed."