THE fate of a Flintshire cleaning products factory employing 155 staff hangs in the balance with the firm expecting “significant” job losses.


Worried staff at Jeyes factory in Mold have been in a four-month consultation with management over the future of the site as the company undergoes a major restructuring.


Nicholas Goodwin, Jeyes’ chief financial officer, said he anticipates significant cuts in the number of employees across the business, which has three manufacturing plants, at Mold, East Kilbride and Kadan in the Czech Republic.


He said: “We are proposing stopping the manufacture of some ‘private label’ products.


“The products are loss-making, with reducing demand, despite strenuous efforts over the last two years to improve the situation.


“Our business environment is undergoing considerable change and the full detail of how and when those circumstances may affect employees is not yet clear.


“Unfortunately, however, we do expect these changes will inevitably involve significant reductions in the number of Jeyes employees across the whole business.


“Finally, we will streamline our supply chain, transferring some of the manufacturing operations to our UK supply chain partners and concentrating our reduced in-house manufacturing capability on our core brands.”


Late last year the company announced the start of a review, due to end in March, into the future of the Mold factory due to “tough economic conditions”.


Mr Goodwin said it did not mean the Bromfield Industrial Estate site, which opened in 1979, would close.


Delyn AM Sandy Meiws said: “I appreciate they have been consulting with staff, however, it is now more than four months since the company revealed jobs at Mold were under threat.


“This must be an extremely worrying time for staff, not knowing what the future holds for them.”


Mr Goodwin added: “As already noted, we intend wherever possible to transfer employees/jobs to other parties in our UK supply chain.


“A full and proper consultation with our staff and with staff representatives will begin shortly.


“We will inform our staff as soon as a conclusion has been reached.
“We understand the concern this will undoubtedly cause amongst our hard-working and loyal staff and the local community."