Restructure sparks fears on the North jobs front

NORTH East employer AkzoNobel has embarked on a major restructuring, but has declined to say whether it will affect its operations in the North East.

The company is currently gearing up to carry out a restructure that will see it separate its specialty chemical business from its paint and coatings division. Shareholders of the Dutch firm approve the split of business, with 99.9% of shareholders in favour of the plans.

AkzoNobel is one of the North East’s biggest employers, with around 1,000 people employed at its plants in Felling and Ashington, but the firm said it was too early to say how the North East sites would be impacted.

A spokesman for the company said: “At this moment it is too early to say what the effect of the situation with our company will be on jobs.

“We are in the middle of the separation of the coatings and chemicals business but at the moment the UK continues to be a key market for us. The new structure we are working towards will increase our customer focus.

“There will be a new structure for the company but it is too early to say what the effect will be.”

The company’s Ashington plant cost more than £100m to build and contains state-of-the-art robotic equipment.

The high tech facility was officially opened this year.