Letter to Lord Mandelson
Letter to Lord Mandelson.
January 16th 2010 Cadburys v Kraft
Dear Lord Mandelson,
In the case of Kraft's bid for Cadburys you made the statement that you would appose asset stripping and that Kraft must be honourable, respect the company, its workforce and legacy. You have promised to speak out in defence of Cadbury workers if jobs were threatened. Meanwhile the Prime Minister has said that although he is not apposed to a Kraft take over he wants to keep the work force in business.
I have been corresponding for over 2 years with the Prime Minister and various Government departments over the closure by Cadburys of the Somerdale chocolate manufacturing company in Bristol (since 1728). Cadburys have always been asset strippers. Cadburys have closed 3 British factories in the last 10 years.
On 3rd October 2007 Cadburys announced yet another closure, this time of the productive and profitable Somerdale factory in Bristol. In September the Cadbury Board met with members of the Bath and North East Somerset council (BANES) where they discussed the sale of a small area of Somerdale land for the development of 60 houses with the agreement that money from the sale of the land would be invested back into the Somerdale factory. Cadburys assured BANES that this was all they wanted to do and that it would not lead to anything else, more houses or even worse a factory closure. Less than 3 weeks later came the announcement by Cadburys of the Somerdale closure. All 11 lines of arguably some of the British publics' favourite chocolate, Crunchie, Fry's Cream, Double Decker, Freddos, Chomp, Picnic, Fudge, Curly Wurly, Fry's Turkish Delight, Caramel, Mini Eggs, were to be relocated for production in Poland. As 98% of all chocolate produced at Somerdale is consumed by the British public ALL chocolate would need to be transported 1,200 per trip back to the Motherland.
The responses from various Government departmentshave beenboth disturbing and alarming. In response to letters sent to BERR, (now BIS), I quote, "We must accept that we operate in an increasingly, globalised competitive environment and that, as most agree, the UK government should not seek protectionist measures which would only serve to impede growth potential of the global economy."
"Openness to investment, including through mergers and takeovers, are an inherent feature of a modern economy and an important driver of growth and innovation."
"Whilst it might be tempting to try to intervene to restrict offshoring to keep jobs in the U.K, we need to recognize that whilst this might work in the short term, it risks undermining firms' competitiveness and this is likely to cost jobs in the long run. This is backed up by evidence. Studies of offshoring suggest that it hasn't reduced overall U.K employment, although of course there are often negative impacts on the local communities that are involved."
It is a fact that Kraft has stated sincerely their positive intentions in the retention and growth in British manufacturing.
So that the British public to be clear about your commitment..........
Do your words of defence for the Cadbury workers jobs only apply to any company which takes them over?
In other words, the UK Government will not protect British jobs if Cadburys choose to close their factories and get rid of their workforce themselves BUT The UK Government will protect Cadbury jobs if another company buys them.
The website www.savecadburys.co.uk is there for anyone to read and discover the real Cadbury Board.
I look forward to your reply that I hope will be respectfully quickly,
Yours sincerely,
Second Letter to Lord Mandelson
February 20th 2010 (2nd Letter) Cadburys v Kraft
Dear Lord Mandelson,
I have not received a reply to my letter, as attached - dated 16th January.
Your words of defense for Cadbury jobs and the support you were going to give the employees against the possible threat of British Cadbury job losses under Kraft never materialized. You said you were ‘disappointed' at Kraft's actions when they announced the closure of Somerdale. I too have been ‘disappointed' at quite a few things over the past 2 ¼ years whilst supporting the Somerdale Cadbury factory against closure, one of them being the lack of commitment from varying Government departments. That is one of the reason I wrote to you last month, I could not understand how the Government could suddenly do a U Turn about keeping our British Cadbury manufacturing jobs HERE in the UK. The whole of the British nation has watched and waited to see just exactly how the Governments pledges were going to be implemented.
The Government could, and still can, save these important British jobs for generations to come.
The Polish Government has ploughed endless money into the ‘new build' Cadbury factory in Poland. The British Government, I have been instructed (in previous letters from BERR/BIS) do much the same for ‘foreign' companies here in the UK.
Now Cadburys is owned by a foreign company.
Kraft insisted that their intention was to invest in both Somerdale and Bournville and create more UK jobs. Nick Bunker Kraft UK and Ireland vice president and managing director also stated,
"We've said since the start we would invest in British manufacturing jobs.....we are sincere in our intentions and clear that we want Somerdale to form part of a combined business going forward."
Kraft's words were easily believed for the simple reason being that, Somerdale is highly productive and profitable and there is such huge potential for further manufacturing on the site.
On a number of occasions certain parties contacted Kraft and appealed to them not to continue with their words if they were false, but Kraft persisted in telling everyone that they were sincere in their intention to invest.
The employees at Somerdale have been treated with the utmost cruelty.
Now we have the disgraceful situation where British Cadbury jobs are being lost, not only because Kraft has broken the Takeover Code (19.1 & 19.3) but also because the British Government has gone back on their word to maintain job security for Cadbury employees under Kraft ownership.
A letter of complaint has been sent to the Takeover Panel.
The Government through BIS and the employment minister has been made more than aware of the unique and distasteful situation of the Cadbury Somerdale factory over the course of the past two years.
It is time for both the Government and Kraft to face up to their pledges to the Cadbury employees, especially those at Somerdale.
I await your reply,
Yours sincerely,
Note:
Cadburys Somerdale, formerly Fry's, is one of the UK's success stories, being a huge positive for UK economy. Somerdale has been proud to serve both the community and the UK for 282 years employing generations of families who have made it the highly productive, profitable and admired factory it is.
