Jobs are safe in Felling as AkzoNobel axes posts

Jan 19 2009 by Karen Dent, The Journal

MORE than 1,000 North East workers worried for their future after their parent company announced it was axing 3,500 posts worldwide have been told their jobs are safe.

AkzoNobel, which owns International Paints in Felling, announced last September that it was cutting posts worldwide by 2011, but did not reveal where the axe would fall.

However workers at International Paints, which employs around 1,000 people in Gateshead as part of AkzoNobel’s marine and protective paints division, have learned they will not be affected by the job cuts.

International Paints spokesman Andrew Wood said: “We have not announced any redundancies. Our employment has gone up in Felling – for International Paints and AkzoNobel’s Powder Coatings – from 650 to more than 1,000 in the last four years and we expect it to remain about that this year.

“We are the largest private sector employer in the borough of Gateshead.”

The division has managed to hold its own despite the economic slowdown and figures from the third quarter of last year – the most recent available – show a 5% increase in its revenues worldwide, with a 3% growth in Europe despite what the company called a “difficult UK market”.

“International Paints’ business has been fairly steady. The company had a very good third quarter,” said Mr Wood. However its plans to build a £7m dedicated research and development facility at Felling to test fireproof coatings has been put on ice, despite getting the nod from Gateshead planners last week.

It received the go ahead to create a new centre with state-of-the-art testing facilities, including test furnaces and laboratories, plus offices and training facilities on an unused sports field within the company’s site.

The agreement was subject to a legal agreement and a financial contribution from International Paints to develop new sports facilities nearby to replace the lost field.

Although research and development on fireproof coatings is already carried out at Felling, the proposed new centre, when built. is expected to create a further 25 jobs.

But Mr Wood said: “We are very pleased to have approval for the new facility, but we have not yet made a decision as to when this investment will go ahead.

“The facility will be built as the market conditions warrant. It will come before our parent company AkzoNobel’s board this year. Obviously the planning approval lasts for a few years.”

The global redundancies are part of the Dutch group’s efforts to save £79m following its £8m purchase of ICI last year.