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Paint manufacturer AkzoNobel plans to open a custom-built decorative paints facility and close two existing factories.
The manufacturer wants to close its Prudhoe and Slough sites and move all manufacturing operations to the new location, just 25 miles from the existing site in Prudhoe.
The investment, the largest since AkzoNobel bought rival ICI Paints in 2008, will treble Akzo’s decorative paint output capability.
“This is a good news story for UK manufacturing,” said Guy Williams, AkzoNobel UK country director told the FT. He said the investment, was “a step change in the way we do business” and would underpin manufacturing for the next 50 years.
Akzo has now entered into a period of consultation with the 220 staff employed across the two sites but says there will be opportunities at the new facility.
The intention is for Slough – where Dulux paints had been made for years – to remain as the headquarters for the UK decorative paints business and for global research and development and marketing.
AkzoNobel has been undertaking a trial at the Prudhoe factory which sees it using rainwater to manufacture paint.
