The Meccano plant in Calais will close by 2024.

Game over for Meccano in France. The “lack of site competitiveness” that Spin Master, the owner of a children’s toy brand, points to in order to justify the closure of its Calais factory. The Canadian group says it “has no choice but to consider ending production activities at the Calais plant by the first quarter of 2024.”

The plant “has never been able to achieve financial balance” and “faces difficult market conditions exacerbated by the recent surge in raw material and energy prices,” adds Spin Master. The group recalls that it has invested “7 million euros since 2014” but has not been able to “improve the situation in the long term”.

The challenge “now is to provide individualized support to each of the 50 eligible employees” and management “will start discussions with the social partners shortly to determine the terms of the Job Protection Plan (PSE)”. “This announcement is very cruel, this is a historic factory,” denounces Calais mayor Natacha Bouchard, denouncing “methods that are completely wrong.” The local leadership “taught us this morning, we were never warned before about the problems associated with the activity,” the city councilor regrets.

“Staff Killed”

“The turnover of this group was 55 million dollars in France in 2021, 2 billion dollars in the world,” emphasizes the mayor of Calais. He has the means to bear the extra cost of energy,” and “we are wondering” about his “real motives,” the elected official chides.

“Perhaps the group is trying to regain a license to manufacture in Mexico. Or he wants to give preference to another of his licenses,” suggests Natasha Bouchard. A meeting with government agencies will be “quickly scheduled” to explore “opportunities for reaching out to the buyer,” she says.

“The staff is completely devastated. We did not expect this,” says Jean-Francois Sandra, CGT representative in Meccano and employee since 1984. “We knew that there were difficulties, in particular with energy, but in no case did we think about a permanent closure,” the trading company clarifies. union member. “We are still part of a large group that brings in huge profits. We were told “three, four years, we are getting better”, and then suddenly the management says that they have been injecting money for ten years and that it does not work,” he laments.

Founded in Calais since 1959 and acquired in 2014 by Spin Master, the Calais factory is the “only toy site” owned by the Canadian group.

“The Unbearable Decision”

Spin Master also has Meccano toys and other brands produced by a “network of partners” located “in Europe, Asia and Latin America”. In addition to Meccano, the Calais site produces a “magic sand” for modeling called “kinetic sand”. A total of “2.5 million boxes” of these two brands leave the factory every year, according to this spokesperson.

The Meccano brand, which has been on the market since 1907 and consists of toys designed in Liverpool by Britain’s Frank Hornby, “remains the property of Spin Master and will be redesigned” to “spice up”, the Canadian company says. Kinetic sand will continue to be produced by partners.

Management briefed staff and employee representatives on Tuesday. On March 2, a legal procedure will begin, involving two months of negotiations with social partners before the consideration of the draft plan for labor protection by the labor administration.

Spin Master ensures that it remains “open to all offers that a potential buyer may make for the site.” The Canadian group also develops mobile apps and cartoons, including the popular Paw Patrol, with a total of 2,310 employees in 27 countries.

“This is a shock to the Calaisiens. Meccano is Calais and Calais is Meccano,” lamented LR MP for the Pas de Calais, Pierre-Henri Dumont, condemning the “unacceptable decision” and calling for “solutions to be found to keep this activity in Calais”.