[Jimbuna]

Rachel Reeves National Insurance tax raid forces first business to close UK factories and move abroad - 'Manufacturing in Britain will die'

ABritish manufacturing company has announced it will close its four factories following Labour's recent Budget changes - making it the first business to cease UK production due to the Chancellor's new policies.

Connectix Cabling Systems' managing director Kevin Hancock said Rachel Reeves's national insurance tax increases and minimum wage hikes have made manufacturing in Britain unsustainable.

The Essex-based company will move production to India or China, marking a significant shift for one of the country's largest cable manufacturing firms.

Connectix, which reported revenues of £50 million in 2023, specialises in manufacturing fibre optic cables for internet providers worldwide.

The company currently employs 150 people across its British factories.

While production will move overseas, the company has promised to find different roles within the organisation for affected employees.

Connectix already has indirect employment ties with approximately 400 workers in India and China, where manufacturing operations are now set to be outsourced.

Hancock, 56, founded Connectix in 1993 at the age of 25, building the company from humble beginnings.

"I was born in the 1960s and grew up in a council house," he told The Telegraph.

"I was from a poor background and we suffered under Labour's power cuts and the three-day week in the 1970s."
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/othe...23ec1f99&ei=19