Up to 290 jobs to go at Burberry

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Burberry said it planned to shut the plant in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, which sews basic outerwear for the label, with the loss of up to 170 jobs.

Further UK staff whose work relates to the Rotherham factory could also lose their jobs. Burberry, which employs 2,000 staff in the UK, said production would be consolidated at its other Yorkshire factory in Castleford, adding it had no plans to leave the UK.

Job cuts have also been announced by a leading food firm. Dutch-owned Vion is to axe 820 jobs under plans to restructure part of its business, the company announced. 470 jobs will be lost at its Haverhill site in Suffolk, 200 at Malton in North Yorkshire and 150 at Cambuslang in Scotland.

The Cambuslang job cuts follow the loss of business supplying food products to supermarket giant Marks & Spencer, while the other losses are as a result of plans to restructure the firm's abattoir and sliced cooked meats operations.

The GMB union said it was "outrageous" that staff at the Rotherham Burberry site heard news of its closure from radio and television reports and pledged to campaign for a change in the law to prevent it happening again.

Angry workers at the Rotherham factory said they knew nothing about the closure until they heard it on the news on Tuesday morning. Women gathering outside the gates of the small plant said they were disgusted and upset.

Burberry's Rotherham facility is one of only two clothing making centres for the firm in the UK. The company said investment would now be focused on the Castleford factory, where the label's famous trenchcoats are made.

The firm said the planned job losses would be subject to consultation.

Burberry said the job cuts were linked to "evolving its supply chain" and were not prompted by the global economic downturn. However, Burberry chief executive Angela Ahrendts said: "This will position us to trade through the current difficult environment and emerge even stronger when the global economy recovers."