Soft drinks firm Britvic to close fruit drinks plant

Britvic has announced the closure of its Chelmsford factory, where the company was founded in the 19th century.

The closure of the Robinsons, Fruit Shoot and J20 fruit drinks plant will result in approximately 230 job losses.

According to the BBC, the plans also include the closure of Britvic's Pennine Spring water factory in Huddersfield with another 40 job losses and a warehouse in Belfast where 20 staff are employed as part of the company's plans to merge its UK and Irish operations.

The soft drinks firm announced cuts totalling £30m over three years as it reported a 50% surge in pre-tax profits, to £37.5m, for the 28 weeks to mid-April.

The cuts come ahead of a Competition Commission decision on its merger with Irn-Bru owner AG Barr, expected by July.

Staff consultations have commenced with the affected sites to close in the first quarter of next year.

Chief executive Simon Litherland said: "We regret the potential loss of jobs caused by the change and are committed to supporting affected employees.

"I am confident that the execution of this strategy will build a more successful Britvic and lead to a much stronger financial performance."