Anger as factory to close with loss of 259 jobs

Vitamin manufacturer Seven Seas’ plant will close within the next two to three years, management said. Of the workforce, around 160 work on the factory floor and the rest in sales and marketing and support functions.

Sales and marketing will be relocating in early summer to parent firm Merck’s offices in London.

Seven Seas managing director John Redman said “nothing has been put forward which changes the company’s view that outsourcing manufacturing and relocating commercial operations offer the best chance of future success for Seven Seas”.

Hull East MP Karl Turner said the firm “built its reputation on the back of Hull and are now bailing out in our hour of need” and it was concerning that the announcement came before the end of the 90-day consultation process.