Heineken Switzerland relocates headquarters to Lucerne

Following its takeover of Eichhof Getränke, Heineken Switzerland will relocate its head office to Lucerne in the first half of 2009. The merger will enable the optimisation of processes and organisational structures, meaning that up to 150 jobs across Switzerland will be cut by mid-2010. Redundancies cannot be ruled out.

Since the takeover of Eichhof Getränke earlier this year, management, central services and staff functions have been divided between three different locations.

That’s not what textbook management will call efficient. That’s why Heineken hopes to move into its new headquarters at the Eichhof Getränke site by 1 June 2009 at the latest. Heineken will have approximately 320 full-time employees in Lucerne from mid-2009.

Eichhof Getränke currently has 295 full-time employees in Lucerne.

As a result of the centralisation, approximately 40 full-time positions in Chur and 50 in Winterthur will be cut in the medium term. The main roles affected will be in management functions, administrative services (HR, marketing, finance and purchasing) and a few support roles in sales.

Both of Heineken Switzerland’s traditional locations will retain their existing functions: approximately 130 full-time positions in production, distribution and on premise sales will remain in Chur. Winterthur will retain approximately 80 full-time positions in on premise sales, distribution and the customer service centre.

The merger with Eichhof Getränke strengthens Heineken’s position as number two in the Swiss market and allows the Dutch brewer to make the most of synergies. Based on the planned optimisation, Heineken expects that

up to 150 full-time positions will be cut by mid-2010. As separate companies, Heineken Switzerland and Eichhof Getränke previously had 970 full-time employees. The cutbacks will occur as far as possible through natural turnover, internal staff transfer and early retirement. However, redundancies cannot be ruled out.