Unilever Nederland bundles the activities of all operating companies in Rotterdam

It is planned to establish the new organisation at the 'De Brug' building, which is currently under construction in Rotterdam. The plan signals Unilever Nederland's commitment to the world-wide aim of forming one operating company per country in order to create economies of scale and a simpler and more efficient organisational structure. The relevant employees, works councils and trade unions have been informed. It is currently not known what the employment consequences will be. Compulsory dismissals are not ruled out.

It means that as from next year – in addition to Unilever Bestfoods the Netherlands' activities – also the activities of the other current operating companies, Lever Fabergé in Bodegraven and the IgloMora Groep in Den Bosch, will be carried out in Rotterdam. The offices of the three operating companies currently employ 800 people.

On 28 July Unilever announced that it wants to further simplify its world-wide organisation to enable faster decision-making and improve agility in the market place in the future. In addition, Unilever wants to generate economies of scale in all activities that support the core of its business. 

Main features of the announced plans are:

• Moving to a simpler structure by integrating all existing operating companies into one operating company per country with 'one face' to the market. These companies will be supported by regional shared services and common Unilever processes for Finance, HR, IT and other supporting processes.
• Retaining the focus on Household & Personal Care, Foods, Ice Cream & Frozen Foods and Foodsolutions by means of 'business units' that will continue to report to the business groups. On a local level, each 'business unit' will have a separate P & L and its own dedicated marketing and customer development teams.
• Further simplifying Unilever's international corporate and divisional structure to ensure seamless management of Unilever’s strategic direction and allocation of resources.
• Providing more fuel for growth through savings to ensure our brands have the resources they need to grow.   
  In the period ahead several project teams will be working out the planned decision to form the new Unilever the Netherlands operating company. This involves developing a blueprint for the new organisation and negotiating a social plan with the trade unions. The new organisational structure will be completed on 1 October, after which the appointment of employees in their new functions will commence. On 1 December 2004 at the latest all employees involved should be informed with regard to their situation.  

The announced restructuring has no immediate consequences for the Unilever sourcing units in the Netherlands and for Unilever Research & Development in Vlaardingen.