Kraft closing its head office in UK

Kraft will move its headquarters from Cheltenham, where around 400 staff are employed, in 2011. Management and employees will move over the next 18 months.

The firm said yesterday it would start consulting affected staff and hoped "as many as possible" would move.

Kraft said plans to have its office network at its Bournville site in Birmingham and at Uxbridge, west London, which was the previous Cadbury head office.

Nick Bunker, president of Kraft Foods, said: "We would be very sad to leave Cheltenham and we would provide significant resources to support employees from all affected sites during the move. However, the business rationale is compelling."

The firm also announced plans to make Bournville the heart of its global chocolate research and development to drive new product development, while the Cadbury Science Centre in Reading will become a global centre, serving the combined company.

Kraft won control of Cadbury after a bitter battle. Unions attacked it for saying it would reprieve workers at the Cadbury plant in Somerdale, near Bristol, only to confirm its closure, with the loss of 400 jobs, shortly after the deal was completed.