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Kraft in £10.2bn move for Cadbury
- Thread starter printmeister
- Start date
Frothblower
Lubrication In Moderation
Cadburys will sell, money talks. It will be another company going abroad. Hope I'm wrong
C
cornwall col
Guest
Well astrange choice given that anyone who has sampled it will tell you the Americans do not know how to make chocolate!...Hershey's yuck
W
Wendy
Guest
I may be wrong but I thought this was a hostile bid by Kraft which can happen with a limited company. I remember this happening to a company Michael worked for. Oh I hope it doesn't happen I just love Cadbury's chocolate.
L
lerryngal
Guest
Well so far Cadbury's is rejecting the bid, but I bet they will cave in eventually. Everything gets sold off eventually. I blame bloody Maggie Thatcher. She's still wreaking havoc, even now!!!
cookie273uk
master brummie
My Son in law worked for Cadburys for 40 years, took early retiment last October. 11 years ago he was diagnosed with cancer of the lymph gland, fortunately he made a complete recovery, during the 6 months he was of work Cadbury reps visited him regularly including the Works manager, full pay for the whole period, extra pay for not using his holiday entitlement and paid for a fortnights holiday for himself and his Wife (my daughter) and put him on light work for the next 6 months, I wonder if he would have been treated like that if it had been American owned ??? Eric
I don't think you will find that the workers at the Cadbury's Keynsham factory are so please that the Kraft offer has been rejected! Cadbury's are about to shut this factory down, make the 500 staff redundant and move the production to Poland!! Some entire extended families will all be on the dole.
Kraft on the other hand have said that they will keep the Keynsham factory open and put a stop to the overseas production plan.
Where would you prefer the Curly Whirly or Crunchie you eat to be made in the UK or overseas? Does it matter if Cadbury's Chocolate is made under the management of Kraft? Do you think that Cadbury's will keep their factory in Birmingham if they can make more dosh by moving production overseas?
Be careful what you wish for, nightmares can come true!
Helen
Kraft on the other hand have said that they will keep the Keynsham factory open and put a stop to the overseas production plan.
Where would you prefer the Curly Whirly or Crunchie you eat to be made in the UK or overseas? Does it matter if Cadbury's Chocolate is made under the management of Kraft? Do you think that Cadbury's will keep their factory in Birmingham if they can make more dosh by moving production overseas?
Be careful what you wish for, nightmares can come true!
Helen
Templer
Brummie
Hi Helen, I have personal experience of a US company taking over a UK one, and have knowledge, through friends, of two or three more. In every instance the US company made wonderful promises about the future while the takeover was being negotiated, as soon as it was completed, lo and behold!.. factory closures and the trimming down of others with the relevant job losses,
I do hope i'm wrong in this case.
Brian
I do hope i'm wrong in this case.
Brian
Dear Brian
I sincerely hope your wrong too. Meanwhile, daughters, sons, parents, aunts and uncles, whole families are going to all end up on the dole if Cadbury's get their way.
My daughter's best friend is not only going to loose her job when the Keynsham factory closes every member of her family, the entire family are going to be out of work.
It doesn't make economic sense to move production all to Poland anyway, costs in that country are rising plus there is the cost of shipping the product back to this country as most of Cadbury's chololate is eaten in the UK!
Helen
I sincerely hope your wrong too. Meanwhile, daughters, sons, parents, aunts and uncles, whole families are going to all end up on the dole if Cadbury's get their way.
My daughter's best friend is not only going to loose her job when the Keynsham factory closes every member of her family, the entire family are going to be out of work.
It doesn't make economic sense to move production all to Poland anyway, costs in that country are rising plus there is the cost of shipping the product back to this country as most of Cadbury's chololate is eaten in the UK!
Helen
The real problem with British so-called management is their short-term attitude. Unlike US, German, French and Japanese companies they invariably look for returns in far too short an investment period. If they don't get those returns, they either sell out, or shift production to what used to be third-world countries. Classic example was the-then new owners of MG-Rover - no vast profits in 2 years, so pull the plug rather than seek responsible investment and plan for future prosperity. 2500 jobs lost - and so what? Nothing wrong with stacking shelves at Tesco, is there? On the other hand, who in their right mind would want to invest capital in the shower that was 'new' MG-Rover?
You only have to drive round any large industrial-estate to see what I mean - boarded-up premises outnumber operating ones in most instances. And many of the ones that aren't boarded-up are now just distribution-centres for overseas-manufactured goods.
Not all of these closed-down businesses are as a result of the recession; many of them were closed years ago when it was seen as 'good business' to shift manufacture to China. Already manufacture is starting to shift back westwards from China, as their economic miracle falters, and places like Turkey, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and so forth, are being 'developed', all of them countries where the workers are paid peanuts and there is little or no social-security. In the last 2 weeks alone, four customers of my company have announced that they will be shifting manufacture to Turkey. In five years time they'll be shifting it somewhere else, South America being the next 'planned' destination for cheap manufacture, or so I am led to understand. Large employers no longer have, or see the need for, a social conscience. I would be very surprised if Cadbury's don't accept the offer from Kraft - eventually. They'll hum and they'll hah, but in the end all they will see are the $$$$'s.
When I lived in the US in the late 1970's, car-companies and steel manufacturers were closing plants like there was no tomorrow, to set up production in places like Mexico and Taiwan. They appear to have seen the light in recent years, though, and are re-investing in domestic US manufacture and US jobs, to their credit. I hope that, sooner rather than later, UK manufacturers come to the same conclusion, that they have a responsibility to their domestic work-force; but I have to say that there is little sign of anything like that at the moment.
I retire in less than 2 years. If I was at the other end of my working-life in 2009 Brown's Britain, I'd be in total despair. Our government and our major employers ought to be thoroughly ashamed of themselves - some hope!
Sorry for the long post.
Big Gee
You only have to drive round any large industrial-estate to see what I mean - boarded-up premises outnumber operating ones in most instances. And many of the ones that aren't boarded-up are now just distribution-centres for overseas-manufactured goods.
Not all of these closed-down businesses are as a result of the recession; many of them were closed years ago when it was seen as 'good business' to shift manufacture to China. Already manufacture is starting to shift back westwards from China, as their economic miracle falters, and places like Turkey, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and so forth, are being 'developed', all of them countries where the workers are paid peanuts and there is little or no social-security. In the last 2 weeks alone, four customers of my company have announced that they will be shifting manufacture to Turkey. In five years time they'll be shifting it somewhere else, South America being the next 'planned' destination for cheap manufacture, or so I am led to understand. Large employers no longer have, or see the need for, a social conscience. I would be very surprised if Cadbury's don't accept the offer from Kraft - eventually. They'll hum and they'll hah, but in the end all they will see are the $$$$'s.
When I lived in the US in the late 1970's, car-companies and steel manufacturers were closing plants like there was no tomorrow, to set up production in places like Mexico and Taiwan. They appear to have seen the light in recent years, though, and are re-investing in domestic US manufacture and US jobs, to their credit. I hope that, sooner rather than later, UK manufacturers come to the same conclusion, that they have a responsibility to their domestic work-force; but I have to say that there is little sign of anything like that at the moment.
I retire in less than 2 years. If I was at the other end of my working-life in 2009 Brown's Britain, I'd be in total despair. Our government and our major employers ought to be thoroughly ashamed of themselves - some hope!
Sorry for the long post.
Big Gee
W
Wendy
Guest
A very good post Big Gee you should be in politics although I think it would be too frustrating for you. The other thing that bothers me is the extending of the retirement age. I am supposed to work until I am 63 and already at 56 suffer with my hands I suppose it's working in the hairdressing profession from 15. There are so many youngsters who can't get jobs yet they want to keep older people working to pay for their own pensions. My son has just been out to Brazil with a major computer firm this seems to be the place they are looking at moving production now! I dis pare!
To be fair she finished nearly 20 years ago, and didn't (couldn't) sell off private companies.
Thanks for your kind comment, Wendy, but you're right: I wouldn't last 5 minutes before I had a seizure or something. Did you see recently a poll of current MP's of all parties showed that over half of them had no experience of any career or work other than politics? No wonder we're in the soup!
The truest statement that Maggie T ever made was: "You can't buck the market" and she was dead right.
I nipped over to Somerfield's last night and bought some chicken breasts - produce of Holland! Can't we even produce chickens any more in this country???
Big Gee
The truest statement that Maggie T ever made was: "You can't buck the market" and she was dead right.
I nipped over to Somerfield's last night and bought some chicken breasts - produce of Holland! Can't we even produce chickens any more in this country???
Big Gee
