Irn-Bru drink maker Barr to close Mansfield site

(Reuters) - Scottish drinks maker A.G. Barr Plc said on Friday it planned to close the Mansfield site in early 2011, affecting about 100 employees, while it would invest at Cumbernauld site to boost capacity.

The company, best known for its bright orange Irn Bru drink, said it planned to invest 8 million to 10 million pounds over the next 12 months at the Cumbernauld site.

The investment would absorb all current PET packaged products from the Mansfield factory, the company said.

A.G. Barr said it started talks with employees at Mansfield, where 98 jobs across production and logistics would be affected by the move, plus a small number of other employees.

The company also plans to have a third-party operated central distribution hub for the south of the country and the outsourced logistics activity is expected to start in 2010.

"This proposal would mean ceasing our current inhouse storage and distribution operations at the Mansfield site and the exit from existing Rubicon third party logistics operations," Barr said in a statement.

The Cumbernauld-based company, which also bottles Strathmore water and Tizer, had acquired fruit drink brand Rubicon last year.

Shares of the company recovered from early fall and were up by a penny at 865 pence by 1545 GMT on the London Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Purwa Naveen Raman in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)