Cosmetics factory in Wales cuts 200 jobs

The factory in Maesteg, near Bridgend, has been at the heart of financial headaches in recent years.

Disappointing sales threatened the plant with closure last year. In November Budelpack stepped in and acquired 70 per cent of former owners COSi saving both the company and the plant from the brink of financial disaster.

Staff cuts​

Now with sales on the slide again Budelpack has cut 150 agency staff in the last two months and intends to lay off 81 of its 411 full time employees in the coming weeks.

The Netherlands-based contract manufacturer said the deteriorating economic situation lay behind the decision.

But last year the manufacturing plant fell into trouble without the added barrier of falling consumer confidence and economic uncertainty.

Troubled factory​

A £9m injection of funds into the former Revlon owned site had failed to bear fruit and with sales figures well below expectations, COSi was plunged into a cash flow crisis.

This time around the economic environment would have made the task of rebuilding the business tougher than expected.

Budelpack is not the only cosmetics company to be struggling in Wales. Only last week L’Oreal announced that 200 jobs would go at its Talbot Green factory in Wales.

The company blamed unsustainable logistical costs associated with higher overseas sales and a decline in the UK supplier base.