Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Marimekko, a producer and seller of design products, has announced lay-offs of up to 60 persons by closing two factories and outlets in Finland. Both factories are producing textile products, but their production may be moved elsewhere in the EU. Marimekko is starting negotiations with employee representatives on the cuts.
Marimekko is one of the best-known Finnish brands. It produces and sells mainly its own design textile products (e.g., clothing, bags, curtains). With over 400 Finnish staff, about third of its products have been produced in Finland. With the closure of factories in Kitee and Sulkava, the only remaining production facility in Finland would be a textile printing factory in Helsinki. The company states that the two plants have been unprofitable and wants to move production to other EU countries. It already has production in Baltic countries and Portugal.
Marimekko's staff in the two affected facilities expressed surprise over the planned closures and initiated a one-day walk-out in protest.
The timeline for the restructuring plans is not yet available.
UPDATED 16-05-2013: Marimekko has concluded negotiations and confirmed the closure of the units in Kitee and Sulkava, likely by the end of August.
Eurofound (2013), Marimekko, Closure in Finland, factsheet number 75117, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/75117.