Type
Closure
Country
Germany
Region
Niedersachsen; Hannover; Region Hannover
Location of affected unit(s)
Langenhagen
Sector
Manufacturing
(12) Manufacture of tobacco products
12.0 - Manufacture of tobacco products
12.00 - Manufacture of tobacco products

600 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
24 March 2025
Employment effect (start)
24 March 2026
Foreseen end date
1 January 2027

Description

Imperial Brands, a UK-based tobacco company, has announced the closure of its cigarette production plant in Langenhagen, Germany, affecting around 600 production workers.

The plant, operated under its subsidiary Reemtsma, will be shut down gradually by 2027 after failed attempts to sell the site to an external investor, with the decision driven by high production costs, low capacity utilisation of around 50%, and declining demand for traditional tobacco products.

The company has stated that socially responsible solutions will be developed for the affected employees. The trade union NGG has strongly criticised the company’s approach, stating it was not involved in the sales negotiations and that employees were left in uncertainty for months, while the company rejected these claims, citing confidentiality obligations and asserting that information had been shared within those limits.

Imperial Brands is an international tobacco company whose German subsidiary, Reemtsma, has been manufacturing cigarettes and fine-cut tobacco at its site in Langenhagen since 1971.

Previous internal restructuring measures were recorded in the ERM database in 2018, with 159 jobs being cut at the Langenhagen site Reemtsma 2018 - DE.


Sources

Citation

Eurofound (2025), Reemtsma, Closure in Germany, factsheet number 204531, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/204531.