Dutch healthcare technology firm Royal Philips is reportedly planning to shut down its UK facility in 2020.
Image: Royal Philips is planning to shut down its factory in the UK. Photo: courtesy of Koninklijke Philips N.V.
Philips intends to close the factory located in Glemsford of Suffolk, which produces babycare products for exporting to other countries in Europe.
The company will include the operations of Suffolk facility into its Drachten factory in the Netherlands, which has about 2,000 employees.
Philips’ decision to close the UK factory could impact around 400 jobs in the region.
The move is part of the company’s strategy to decrease its manufacturing sites to 30 from 50 across the world.
Philips UK & Ireland CEO Neil Mesher was quoted by Reuters as saying: “We have announced the proposal after careful consideration, and over the next period, we will work closely with the impacted colleagues on next steps.
“The UK is an important market for us, and we will continue to invest in our commercial organization and innovation programmes in the country.”
Recently, Philips has realigned its three reporting segments to better meet the requirements of its customers.
The company has realigned the composition of its segments, including diagnosis and treatment, connected care and health informatics, and personal health.
Philips has shifted sleep and respiratory care business from the personal health segment to the renamed connected care segment, while healthcare informatics business from the connected care segment to the diagnosis and treatment segment.
The diagnosis and treatment segment includes diagnostic imaging, ultrasound and healthcare informatics businesses,
The connected care segment is comprised of monitoring and analytics, therapeutic care, population health management, and sleep and respiratory care businesses.
In addition, personal health segment includes personal care, domestic appliances, oral healthcare, and mother and child care businesses.
With sales and services in over 100 countries, Philips provides diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as consumer health and home care solutions.
The company, which reported €17.8bn sales in 2017, employs around 77,000 people.