'Shock' for paper firm staff amid closure proposal

Staff have reacted with "shock and disappointment" to the proposed closure of a packaging site which has been a major employer in a Cornish town for nearly 60 years.

International paper firm DS Smith has confirmed a "proposal had been made" to close its factory on Link Road in Launceston, North Cornwall.

It said this followed a "review of UK packaging operations" amid "tough trading conditions".

Adrian Parsons, Liberal Democrat councillor in the area, said: "I'm hearing shock and disappointment from staff - they are worried about losing their jobs and about the future."

Ben Maguire, Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, expressed his sympathies to employees, who he said would be "really anxious and uncertain".

Criticising an "anti-business" approach from the government, he said companies like DS Smith were being "hammered".

Describing job losses as a "trend across North Cornwall", he said his inbox was "absolutely flooded" with small and medium sized businesses complaining about rises in national insurance costs and minimum wage hikes.

He said these changes had been a "perfect storm" alongside the rising cost of living.

Calling on the government to step in, he said Cornwall was not getting a "slice" of regional growth investment.

The firm first opened as Tillotson's in 1968 and has since been through a series of takeovers, most recently by US business International Paper, which acquired the operation in January 2025.

Parsons, member for Altarnun and Stoke, added: "I have friends from school who have been there all their lives for a responsible employer which always paid well and had good working hours.

"It's a surprise but also an enormous disappointment that things have played out as they have."

DS Smith said: "To improve efficiencies across our business and to ensure we respond to the evolving needs of our customers in what are tough trading conditions for the industry, we have undertaken a review of our UK Packaging operations.

"As a result of this review, we can confirm a proposal has been made to close a site within our network. A consultation process with employees is ongoing, during which DS Smith (and International Paper) will not comment further."

In 2024, DS Smith made 70 roles redundant at its site in Louth in Scotland.

Meanwhile, consultations last year at sites in Plymouth, Derbyshire, Newcastle, Sheerness, and Wellingborough resulted in a decision to close them, the firm confirmed.

The government has been contacted for a response.

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