Job losses at Nenagh plant
250 employees at the Coty plant in Nenagh are to lose their jobs when the multinational company closes its business in the town. Staff at the former Procter & Gamble site were called to a meeting last week, with the management shutting down production for the day. The company is expected to announce a phased closure of the plant over the next 12-18 months.
Coty, which makes cosmetics, fragrances, and hair and skincare products, is transferring the operations to another plant in Ashford, Kent. The Nenagh plant had been in competition with Ashford for the business and union leaders had hoped that, with Brexit looming, the Tipperary facility would have an advantage.
Coty is the company behind cosmetic brands such as Rimmel, Max Factor, Cover Girl, Calvin Klein, and Mark Jacobs, as well as Clairol and Wella products. Founded in Paris in the early 20th century, it is now headquartered in New York.
Staff will receive redundancy payments under the terms previously available from Procter & Gamble, amounting to six weeks’ pay per year of service, plus two weeks’ statutory redundancy.
Speaking at the publication of Coty’s second-quarter financial results in February, chief executive Camillo Pane said the company still expected to make savings of $750 million by 2020 as a result of merging the Procter & Gamble business. “The integration is progressing as expected, with no major issues to date. It’s fair to say this is a significant undertaking as we are both integrating and simultaneously reorganising the entire company to create the organisation we need to deliver our mission,” he said.
