Member Article

140 jobs to go at Hull medical tech business as it outsources to China

Hull-based medical technology firm Smith & Nephew, the global medical technology business, has revealed that due to expansion plans in China, a further 140 jobs will be axed.

In 2012, as part of Smith & Nephew’s manufacturing strategy, plans to transfer some production from Hull to Suzhou in China were announced. It is anticipated that as part of these plans the number of roles at the Hull site may be reduced by a further 140.

The company said that this will result in both voluntary and some compulsory redundancies, with the process being completed by the end of July 2016.

Smith & Nephew has also announced a $16 million investment in the Hull site and new plans to focus on the development and launch of new products.

Noel Waters, senior vice president, Global Operations at Smith & Nephew, says: “We are very proud of our heritage in Hull and the site remains a major cornerstone of Smith & Nephew.

“We are delivering new programmes and actively working on bringing new processes to Hull in order to maximise the benefits from our highly skilled workforce and to continue to create a sustainable future for the site.

“For example, we are investing $11.4million to bring the manufacturing of our complex silver coating technology for ACTICOAT to Hull.

“Additionally, when the site was flooded in December 2013, our focus was to ensure manufacturing for customers was re-established as soon as possible and it was the great teamwork that meant we were able to recover so quickly.

“We are now investing $4.7million in flood defences around the site in the eventuality that such an incident happens again.

“In 2013 we launched 23 new Advanced Wound Management products, such as the DURAFIBER◊ Ag antimicrobial dressing, which is being manufactured in Hull.

“The specialised manufacturing expertise in Hull will ensure we continue our high rate of innovation, developing new and enhanced market leading products.

“We must also fully utilise our other manufacturing facilities, such as Suzhou, so that we can continue to provide surgeons and nurses with life-changing treatments and innovative products that make a difference to people’s lives around the world.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .