AstraZeneca

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca plans to cut 700 jobs in the UK and transfer 1,600 jobs from its Alderley Park site in Cheshire to a new research and development centre in Cambridge by 2016.

General union Unite has accused the organisation of creating a skills crisis in the North West by draining the region of highly skilled research and development jobs in the middle of an economic downturn.

Unite national officer Linda McCulloch said: ”After 40 years of success and hundreds of millions of pounds of investment, we are at a loss as to why AstraZeneca is now pulling out of Alderley Park.”

GMB national officer Allan Black said the move was “disastrous news”.