We have some extremely skilled workers, some amazing employees there. The leader of Dover District Council, Councillor Paul Watkins, said: "The local economy will be badly hit by the effects of this news and those local families who have relations employed at the site will be particularly distressed and concerned at the moment.
Business Secretary Vince Cable called the decision "extremely disappointing" but said the company had been clear that the move was part of its global programme of change. Unite's national officer, Linda McCulloch said: "This is absolutely devastating news for the local economy. This closure exposes the government's vacuous claim that the private sector will compensate for its brutal cuts. The pharmaceuticals group, which closed its manufacturing operations at Sandwich in , said it hoped to redeploy several hundred positions to other sites or partner companies.
Senior vice president and site head, Dr Ruth McKernan, said: "Sandwich has an extremely talented workforce with a proud and rich history in science research and development. More than 1, people at 68 companies now work on-site, although more than of these are the Pfizer staff who survived the cull. Our profits for December are down 25 per cent as Pfizer used to have around a dozen Christmas parties here. The Environment Agency has done a lot of flood prevention work and the defences look very attractive by the riverside.
The latter course hosted the Open championship in July giving a much-needed boost to the local economy. There are many exciting prospects ahead for Discovery Park, which is attracting a range of new companies due to its Enterprise Zone status.
The site was important for the town. You are talking about 2, well-paid scientists, who spent a lot of money. There aren't a lot of well-paying jobs around here.
Sandwich pubs are still smarting from the collapse of the busy Friday night trade from Pfizer staff stopping for a drink on their way from the Ramsgate Road site to the station. Heather Lemoine, landlady of the Admiral Owen, which would be one of the first stops in a pub crawl from Pfizer's into town, said: "It's been tragic since they left.
All the pubs used to be rammed — you had to crawl to get in. Now, well, it's not the same now. They say they are going to invest in the UK. I'll believe that when I see it.
John Bragg, a former Pfizer scientist and former mayor of Sandwich, who is currently a town councillor, said it was "hugely odd" that Pfizer was making a U-turn on British scientific research so soon after closing down his old lab. Bragg, who set up Pfizer's first non-US lab in Sandwich in , said: "I was very disappointed when Pfizer pulled out: it had a huge effect on the town. It's quite a paradox that now they want to come back to Britain.
Pfizer's plan is for a combined Pfizer-Astra research centre in Cambridge — not Sandwich, where its site has been converted into a business park. David Cameron has asked his top civil servants to look for a way to make Pfizer keep its promise. US giant Kraft reneged on a pledge to keep a Cadbury factory in Bristol open soon after it took over the chocolate maker in But Downing Street has made it clear that the prime minister is not about to intervene in the deal, which is viewed as a commercial transaction between the companies and shareholders.
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