Top brass at cider maker C&C, brands of which include Magners and Bulmers, are foregoing their bonuses in favour of issuing them to shop-floor workers, in a bid to boost morale following reduced revenues leading to redundancies and pay freezes.
Three executives will put combined bonuses they are owed worth over £1 million into a pool available for the company’s employees. One of the three, chief operating officer Stephen Glancey, said the move was “appropriate in the current climate.”
The firm has recently announced a restructure which will see a total of 120 staff – 20% of the total workforce – made redundant.
C&C has announced that it suspects its revenues to have declined 13 per cent over the 2008/09 working year and underlying profits to be down to circa €90m, from €124m the year before. In addition, the worth of its Clonmel, County Tipperary manufacturing site has been reduced to €70m from its previous valuation of €200m by former controllers of the company.
John Dunsmore, group CEO and another of the executives rejecting his bonus, said: “In the course of the next twelve months, we expect to make major progress on cost competitiveness and move to make the business leaner and faster to react to market led changes.
“The key task is to create a sustainable and secure platform for our Cider business in Ireland and the UK. This will ensure that we build a strong foundation for growth in future years.”
Dunsmore, Glancey and the third – strategy director Kenny Neison – joined C&C from fellow brewer Scottish and Newcastle in November after the latter was bought by Heineken.
Sales of Magners are down 23% in Britain.
