Rigid Paper to close down Selby mill

The closure comes as the group is investing in eastern Europe and also in its other UK plants. In August, it announced it was planning to build a new paper mill in eastern Germany or Poland that would create up to 250 jobs.

Unite regional officer Steve Hart said the union was into its third meeting with the company and that all those working at the site would be made redundant.

“Some of the workers will stay on briefly to clean the site and help remove the machinery, but the facility will close in January,” he said.

Rigid Paper, which manufactures paper for packaging, said that its Selby and Desborough corrugated division would not be affected.

In the 2007 financial year, the output of Rigid Paper was 70,000 tonnes and the firm’s turnover was £15.4m.

VPK factfile
- In August, VPK Packaging Group said it was looking to build a new papermill in central Europe, and was considering two possible locations – Zeitz in Germany and Wroclaw in Poland. It expects to create 250 new jobs
- The company will open a new €16m facility in Salonta, Romania, to produce corrugated board packaging and tubes
- In January, VPK Packaging sold its Doopa and Doopatrans paper recycling businesses to SITA
- VPK acquired two Belgian firms – Saucas Display, a producer of corrugated board displays, and R&F Folding Boxes, which makes solid board packaging – at the beginning of the year.

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