NEARLY all of the 26 workers employed by Burall Floraprint in Wisbech may lose their jobs following last year s merger with Floramedia UK. Only months after managing director Brian Pinker announced the merger had saved the Wisbech site, the new owners gav

NEARLY all of the 26 workers employed by Burall Floraprint in Wisbech may lose their jobs following last year's merger with Floramedia UK.

Only months after managing director Brian Pinker announced the merger had saved the Wisbech site, the new owners gave details of the closure and the threat to Fenland jobs.

The Oldfield Lane factory is to close, production switched to a new centre in Colchester which opened this week, and the Burall's name phased out.

Three of the 26 staff at Wisbech are field sales staff and are expected to re-locate but the rest are now subject to a 30 day statutory consultation period.

Mr Pinker said: "The changes are being made to help rationalise our business and ultimately improve the quality of service and product range that we can offer."

Floramedia spokesman Charmain Robinson said the final tally of redundancies will not be known until the consultation period is complete " and any offers of positions at Colchester have been accepted or refused."

She also confirmed that the Burall name " will probably be phased out over a period of time." Just seven months ago Mr Pinker described retention of the Burall name as "the old Austin Morris syndrome: it's a good name and a name people believe in."

Phil Griffiths, managing director of Floramedia UK, said: " The offices in Wisbech are expected to close completely at the end of June. Without doubt this is a major change to our business- however these are changes that we feel are necessary to service the current market conditions effectively."

* News of the Wisbech closure is the latest evidence of the decline in the once prosperous Burall Group in Wisbech. Paragon Labels bought one division in 2005, and last year another division was sold through administrators to CT Packaging.

Burall Floraprint provides labels, printed promotional products and point of sale material for the horticultural industry.