Imperial Tobacco to cut over 2000 jobs

June 19, 2008 Imperial Tobacco, a United Kingdom-based tobacco company, has announced that it will cut 2,440 jobs as part of a restructuring plan. This move comes after the Imperial's takeover of Spain-based Altadis.

The job cuts were made as part of the process of moving the production of tobacco products to Northern Spain. In the United Kingdom, the Bristol factory is the only one that is completely closing, although there are significant job losses at other locations.

A spokesperson for Imperial Tobacco defended the move. "We are regrettably closing the cigar factory in Bristol - it's a very regrettable step for us to take, but it is an industry which is under considerable pressure," he said.

The Unite union has stated that they will fight the decision. Iain MacLean, a union spokesman, said that "it’s early days but we will be fighting for every job and there will be absolutely no acceptance of any compulsory redundancies."