Mars shake-up triggers fear of big job losses

According to a report in British newspaper "The Sunday Times", Mars/Masterfoods isconsidering a shake-up that could end the group s chocolate production in Great Britain. In response to rumours that Mars was planning to close its famous chocolate factory in Slough, the company last week told staff it was launching a pan-European consultation to "address sales growth, manufacturing capacity, and overheads and ways of working".
The group s 11,000 European staff are concerned that the consultation is a prelude to a wide-ranging restructuring. Frank Loveday, an organiser for the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union, said staff feared the company was set to make big cuts. Slough is home to Mars s European headquarters, which employs 1,200 administrative staff. A further 500 work in the chocolate factory. The consultation, set out in an internal memorandum, highlights tensions that have festered since family managers retired last summer. Day-to-day control was handed to Paul Michaels, based in Washington DC. A Mars spokesman told the BBC that he would not comment as the outcome of the consultation was not known.