Last orders for cider factory
More than 50 years of brewing history comes to an end this week when a cider company finally severs its connection with Sussex.
About two thirds of the workforce at Merrydown's plant in Horam, near Heathfield, will walk out for the final time early on Friday following the company's decision earlier this year to shut the site.
Production will stop for good, although the company will keep a small presence of office staff at the site until the end of February.
Merrydown, which makes the Shloer soft fruit and Merrydown cider brands, has had a connection with the small East Sussex village since 1946.
Merrydown decided to close the plant because further investment could not be justified because of the small manufacturing capacity.
The company will now move its offices to Reigate, Surrey, where the Shloer team is based. Production will be moved to a number of sub-contractors.
Chris Carr, managing director of Merrydown's cider division, said the decision to close was hard but inevitable given the plant's limitations.
He said: "When the site was bought for a few hundred pounds I don't think anyone imagined we would be turning out 18,000 cases every 24 hours. Obviously we have outgrown the site and, while that is sad, businesses sometimes have to move on and I think everyone understands that."
At its peak, the Horam factory employed more than 125 but now about 35 staff face redundancy.
When the closure was announced in July, the news shocked people living in Horam as the plant was the village's main employer.
Merrydown has vowed to work closely with residents about how to make the best use of the site.
