UNION leaders have sought assurances about the long-term future of the Nestl factory following the job cuts bombshell.

Local MPs have requested meetings with the company's bosses and union officials to discuss its role in the city in years to come.

The Evening Press reported yesterday that Nestl chiefs had decided to axe 234 posts in a major shake-up of its York operation.

John Kirk local organiser of the GMB union, which represents the majority of Nestl workers, said: "Obviously this came as a surprise. However, I understand the company's position in relation to the reorganisation for the future.

"Having been in those discussions I'm confident of the long-term job security on the York site, and I'm pleased that the company is concentrating on core brands in the future."

Mr Kirk said he was "confident" that sufficient numbers would put in for voluntary redundancy. "We want to minimise the total number of job losses, so we'll be looking at alternatives to what the company is proposing.".

Speaking from Botswana, where he is on an aid mission, York MP Hugh Bayley said he had arranged a meeting with Nestl Rowntree managing director Paul Grimwood for April.

"I'm very concerned about the job losses at Nestl," he said.

"I don't want the factory to go the way of Terry's."

Mr Bayley said the Nestl chief had made it clear in a recent conversation that the York factory needed to "increase its productivity" if it was to have a long-term future.

"I have spoken to the company and have asked to meet them," he said.

"I will also be seeking a meeting with the trade unions beforehand."

Vale of York MP Anne McIntosh said she also planned to make representations to Nestl.

"I'm bitterly disappointed for the workforce - they are second to none," she said.

"It's particularly disappointing against a background of other job losses at Terry's."

Andrew Lindsay, president of York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said: "It is disappointing to hear of job losses being announced.

"Nestl is a very big investor in the York economy. We have to support businesses that want to be efficient. We must look to the totality of Nestl's investment in the city and ensure they continue to remain committed to York.

"I very much hope that Nestl does remain a long-term supporter of the York economy."

Nearly 300 years of history in York

1725: A Quaker, Mary Tuke opens shop in Walmgate

1862: Henry Isaac Rowntree acquires cocoa side of business

1869: Henry Isaac's brother, Joseph, becomes a partner

1890: The Haxby Road "Cocoa Works" are built

1897: Rowntree & Co becomes limited, with Joseph Rowntree as chairman

1906: A pension scheme is launched

1918: An annual week's holiday with full pay is introduced

1921: The company presents Rowntree Park to York. Unemployment scheme introduced

1936: Dairybox, Blue Riband and Quality Street join the portfolio

1969: Rowntree & Co Ltd and John Mackintosh & Sons Ltd become Rowntree Mackintosh Ltd

1986: A £16 million Kit Kat 4 factory plant is opened in York

1991: The £14million cocoa processing plant and the £6 million Yorkreco pilot plant open

1992: The £15.5 million Polo Mint plant opens

1993: An £18 million chocolate making plant, which can produce four tonnes of milk chocolate an hour, starts work

1999: Kit Kat Chunky is an instant hit

2002: Double Cream chocolate bar launched

2003: Tough-talking New Zealander Chris White arrives as managing director

2005: Chris White and Nestle part company.

2006: Nestl reveals in January that hundreds of temporary agency staff and 14 finance jobs in York are to go.

Bitter taste of sugar prices

THE high price of sugar in the UK has brought a bitter reward for the country's confectionery industry.

For the latest 234 redundancies at Nestl Rowntree in York should be seen in the context of 16,000 job losses in the UK's business, cake and confectionery sector over the past five years.

What is the major reason for all this upheaval? The exorbitant price of Britain's sugar.

Alison Ward is spokeswoman for the Biscuit Cake Chocolate and Confectionery Association (BCCCA), whose combined membership employs 80,000 people who generate £15 billion in consumer sales each year.

She said: "In Britain, we pay one-third more for our sugar than the rest of the world, and ten per cent more than the rest of Europe.

"Manufacturers using sugar in processed products account for about 70 per cent of usage in the UK, or nearly 1.2 million tonnes. Industrial users are therefore a major stakeholder in the sugar regime." That is why her organisation, whose membership includes Nestl, celebrated the recent agreement on sugar reform by the European Union's Council of Ministers, which would mean a more realistic price in the future.

But they lamented the fact the introduction was being delayed by up to four years, to help farmers. Until then, the EU price for sugar would continue to be double the world price. That is going to cost yet more jobs, they warned.

The British public is consuming no more sweet goodies than it used to, though it is paying four per cent more for them each year.

When it comes to the chocolate industry in the UK, demand perfectly meets supply, without room for growth.

That could do little to console those who remain at Nestl in York, given the prospect of new manufacturing units opening in parts of the world where labour and other costs are decidedly cheaper.

Updated: 10:38 Friday, March 03, 2006