Lush cosmetics is moving a large part of its production to Germany because of the Brexit vote …
Mark Constantine, founder and chief executive of the cosmetics chain, confirmed the move to Bournemouth Daily Echo.
Lush employs some 1,400 people in Poole, and around a third of those do not have British citizenship.
Constantine said the referendum result had signalled to staff from overseas that they’re ‘not welcome and not wanted in Poole’, where 58% of people voted to leave the EU.
Those staff, he said, spend around £4.6million locally on food, leisure and housing, including £700,000 on council tax.
‘Now all those people have been told they’re not welcome and not wanted by people in Poole, because Poole voted against it,’ he said.
Employees will be given the option of moving to Dusseldorf if they wish.
Goods produced for the UK market will continue to be made in Poole, while those for the global market will be produced in Germany.
Constantine said the move may not mean a loss of jobs in Poole, but the town would no longer benefit from the company’s rapid global expansion.
‘We have considerable growth,’ he said. ‘We can move the European production to Europe and still be as busy as we were last Christmas.
‘It’s not a question of cutting local production, it’s a question that the growth is going there.’
Lush currently produces around half of its global output in Poole.
