160 jobs lost as Braun closes Carlow plant

GERMAN PERSONAL-CARE products company Braun has announced the end of manufacturing in Carlow with the loss of 160 jobs. However, there was some relief yesterday when the company said that 100 employees out of the current workforce of 260 will be transferred to its Newbridge plant in Co Kildare.

Braun, which is best-known for its electric shavers, was one of the first major foreign investors in Ireland and established the plant in Carlow in 1974. At one point the factory employed 1,500 people, making it one of the biggest employers in the southeast. Employee levels have been dropping in recent years and the closure of the factory was expected after the company announced a review of its Irish operations last year. The company said that “due to a decrease in consumer demand” it had decided to “phase out” the manufacturing of “the Braun gas-powered cordless haircare business” (curling tongs) this month. It will now concentrate all of its Irish manufacturing in Newbridge and transfer 100 jobs there by next summer. A redundancy programme for the remaining 160 workers in Carlow will be introduced soon.

Yesterday, a spokeswoman for Procter Gamble, the US multinational which owns Braun, said:

“The consolidation is the best option for our business in Ireland and ensures its viability in the long term.” The Newbridge plant currently produces Oral-B  manual toothbrushes and dental floss. The production of refill parts for Braun electrical shavers and Oral-B electric toothbrushes will be transferred from Carlow to Newbridge.

The company also said that it will be putting “the building and lands” in Carlow up for sale and that “the equipment on site will be decommissioned”.

Carlow-based TD Mary White, the Green Party’s deputy leader and spokeswoman on enterprise, trade and employment, said she would be “urging the Tánaiste and her department to do all they can to help all those who have lost their jobs to find new opportunities through the extensive retraining and employment schemes which the Government is providing at this difficult economic time”. While she welcomed the news that “100 jobs will be retained, though transferred to Newbridge,” she said “the loss of the Carlow jobs and the iconic factory building cuts the heart out of Carlow.” The departure of Braun is the latest in a series of major manufacturing job losses in the town in recent years following the closure of the Irish Sugar factory and of German engineering firm Lapple.

Braun was founded in Frankfurt in 1921. The company became famous in Germany for its radios, alarm clocks, coffee-makers and electric razors. Braun was acquired by the Gillette company in 1984, which was, in turn, acquired by Procter & Gamble in 2005.