UPM to establish Global Financial Service Centres in Finland and China

UPM will centralise its financial operations to Global Service Centres in Tampere, Finland, Changshu, China, and partly in Singapore. Furthermore, four Regional Service Centres will be established worldwide. Currently financial services are provided from approximately 100 locations.

The planned restructuring is part of UPM's programme to restore profitability which was announced last spring. By bringing all the Group's finance operations together, UPM will improve its Finance and Control function's operating efficiency.

When all the measures are completed, Finance and Control headcount will be reduced by approximately 150 people from the current 730 in 30 countries worldwide during 2007-2008. This number is included in the Group's total headcount reduction of 3,600 announced last spring.

Due to the centralisation, the number of financial professionals will increase in Tampere and Changshu. The Global Service Centre in Tampere will be the biggest location employing approximately 180 financial professionals. Persons working currently in Finance and Control who are suitably qualified or can be retrained, and are willing to relocate, will have the opportunity for redeployment in Tampere.

UPM is planning to provide Financial Transaction Processing Services from the new Global Service Centres for the whole of the company. In addition, these centres will also take care of Reporting and Accounting Services for their areas, i.e. Northern Europe, China and Asia-Pacific. The planned locations for the Global Financial Service Centres are:

Services for Europe and North America Tampere, Finland Services for China and Asia-Pacific Changshu, China and partly Singapore

Furthermore, Reporting and Accounting Services are offered from four Regional Service Centres.

The planned locations for the Regional Service Centres are:

Services for Central Europe Augsburg, Germany
Services for Western Europe Grand Couronne, France
Services for United Kingdom and Ireland Irvine, UK
Services for North America Westmont, US

"These measures are necessary in order to increase the efficiency of our services. Many other companies have resorted to outsourcing their financial services, but we believe this plan will give us the same effect in-house, with even better results," says Turkka Keskinen, Senior Vice President, Business Control and Financial Shared Services.

Employee negotiations will take place as part of the overall transition plans put in place. Negotiations will follow local legislation and union guidelines in each country.
The earliest outcomes of the negotiations are due in December. Opportunities for relocation and retraining will be actively sought throughout employee negotiations. Where possible, UPM will implement pensions or unemployment benefits until retirement.

 

Source: UPM