Dulux is to shut its paint manufacturing business on Cork’s Commons Road by the end of this year with the loss of 45 jobs and ending a 140-year history of manufacturing on the site.
The company, owned by Dutch multinational AkzoNobel, confirmed the manufacturing site and warehouse is to shut with operations moving to the UK.
When contacted by the Irish Examiner, Dulux said the Cork site requires significant renovations, upgrades and investment in order to futureproof it in the short term and that longer term, a new plant would have to be developed.
As a result, it has decided to shut it in a move that would result in 45 redundancies. Most of the site’s current manufacturing volumes will be moved to the UK which will supply Dulux paint for the Irish market.
“We understand the impact this will have on our colleagues and know that the coming weeks will be really difficult for everyone in our Cork plant, many of whom have worked at the site for more than 30 years,” said Seamus O’Donoghue, managing director, Dulux Paints Ireland.
“We have an outstanding team in Ireland. But, as a global business we have an obligation to continually look at ways in which we can improve our processes, ensuring our products are produced more efficiently while maintaining the highest standards of quality not just now but into the future,” he said.
The company said it will concentrate its efforts on supporting workers impacted by the decision and arrangements are being made to meet and consult with employee and union representatives.
It said the only operation to cease in Ireland would be paint production with the company planning further investment in its non-manufacturing operations in Dublin. Sales, marketing, warehousing and logistics as well as AkzoNobel’s Dublin location are not impacted. The company will also expand warehouse capacity in Dublin to supply the Irish market.
Under the same rationalisation programme, AkzoNobel said it is also closing plants in Groot-Ammers in The Netherlands and Lusaka in Zambia as part of a multi-year efficiency plan.
When the Cork plant finally closes at the end of this year, it will bring to an end more than 140 years of continuous manufacturing operations on the site.
The plant on the city’s Commons Road which straddles the River Bride, has been at the forefront of the Irish paint industry for over 14 decades, dating back to when it originally opened its doors in 1885 when it was established for the manufacture of chemicals.
By the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922, it was the largest paint and varnish manufacturer in the country. In the 1930s HGW Paints, as it was then known, partnered with British chemical firm ICI in the production of special paints for the Henry Ford assembly plant in Cork.
In the 1960s the facility took responsibility for the manufacturing and marketing of ICI’s Dulux brand in Ireland. ICI was acquired by AkzoNobel in 2008 and more than €2m was invested in the plant in 2010 to upgrade the facility.