UK: GSK plans Horlicks sale and manufacturing site shut down

20 Jul 2017 --- GlaxoSmithKline intends to sell its Horlicks brand in the UK and is proposing to close the malted-drink manufacturing site as well as dumping the MaxiNutrition brand in Britain.

As part of a major UK review at GSK, the giant is making strategic decisions concerning its consumer healthcare business and pharmaceuticals. GSK is also exploring options to divest some other smaller non-core nutrition brands.

Overall, GSK employs around 17,000 people across the UK of which 5,000 are in UK manufacturing operations. The proposals announced for Worthing and Slough will result in a reduction of approximately 320 permanent jobs over the next four years.

“We have a substantial manufacturing presence in the UK and continue to support the network with new investment of more than £140million in the next three years. At the same time, we have had to make some decisions which we know will cause uncertainty for some of our employees. We will do all we can to support them through this process,” says Roger Connor, President, GSK Global Manufacturing and Supply.

“We are continuing to invest in science and our core businesses in the UK and we continue to see the UK as an attractive place for the life sciences industry. We are working constructively with the Government and others to develop an ambitious plan for the sector as part of the UK’s new industrial strategy,” adds Philip Thomson, President, Global Affairs, GSK.

GSK stress that none of the announcements by the company have resulted from the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.

GSK has a significant presence in the UK with nine manufacturing sites, a global R&D site, corporate headquarters and is one of the largest private R&D investors in the UK spending over a £1billion a year.

GSK exports around 80 percent of its UK manufactured products (pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare) and the proposals for Worthing and Slough are subject to employee consultation, which will begin immediately.

The combined annual UK sales of Horlicks and Maxi Nutrition are around £30m (US$39m), according to GSK which also says the decision does not impact the Horlicks brand in India or south East Asia which accounts for the vast majority of Horlicks global revenues.