More than a third of workers at a company that makes plastic tubes and containers for some of the world's best-known cosmetics have been made redundant.
Tubepack, based in Mairangi Bay on Auckland's North Shore, said yesterday that 47 employees from a workforce of 120 would lose out.
Managing director Ron Cave blamed the increasingly competitive Australian and Chinese markets and the increased strength of the New Zealand dollar, which made manufacturing tough.
Workers had been given four weeks' notice, he said.
"Nobody reacts well to this sort of news. They [the employees] took it better than could be expected. This has been very upsetting for all of us."
The company, founded in 1965, exports to countries such as Australia, the United States and Europe. Names such as Estee Lauder, Yves St Laurent and Old Spice can be found in Tubepack's containers. In 2000 the company had an annual turnover of $12 million.
Mr Cave, who bought the firm in 1991 with his wife, has been with the company for 28 years. He said there were no plans to make further redundancies.
"We've taken a hit, but kept the place going as long as we could. We will keep working very hard to maintain a viable business."
The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union national secretary, Andrew Little, said the business had been under pressure for some time and had been on the market for about four years.
"Any redundancy is a pretty hard thing to swallow. The workforce will have known the business has been under pressure for some time but it's never a very pleasant situation."
He said the employees would not receive redundancy payouts.
