From: Express
HIGHER taxes and an increase in smuggling were blamed yesterday for the closure of a UK cigarette factory with the loss of 540 jobs.
By: Peter Cunliffe
Imperial Tobacco is to close its last UK plant in Nottingham which can trace its roots to 1877 when John Player bought a site.
It will also shut another in Nantes, France, where it employs 320, and in total up to 900 jobs will be lost across the group.
The FTSE-100 company said the closures reflected falling industry output in Europe blamed on tough economic conditions, increasing regulation, higher taxes and the growth in smuggling.
