Shire Plc revealed that it intends to transfer more than 500 jobs from Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania, location to Lexington, Massachusetts, where its U.S. operational headquarters are planned to be established. The move is considered an attempt by the company to save expenses by combining the location of its worldwide research and development and commercial operations.
As reported by the Wall Street Jourmal, The Chief Executive Officer of the company, Flemming Ornskov, said in a news release: “We consider ready access to these resources an important element in the future growth of our company.”
The relocation is considered as the largest step in the strategy of Shires CEO to streamline the fast-growing company. The U.K.-based group said that the consolidation of its operations in two major locations, would allow it to save about $25 million on a yearly basis from 2016.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Susan Windham-Bannister, said for the Boston Herald: “We have been having conversations with them about these plans, and they have certainly moved forward aggressively. Most exciting is the fact that they are going to have their headquarters here.”
The jobs transition of the companys employees is expected to be finalized by the first quarter of 2016. In addition, Shire also revealed that Jeff Poulton, who currently heads the companys Investor Relations, is to be appointed as interim Chief Financial Officer. The appointment is to take effect from January 1st 2015.
An official representative of the company announced that the positions, which will be located to the Lexington operation include posts in both research and development and commercial areas, as well as related support functions. About 1 300 people currently work at the Lexington operation of the company.
The total global workforce of Shire currently amounts to about 5 000 full-time employees. The transfer is now considered to help Shire improve not only its overall coordination and performance, but its commercial and research-and-development units efficiency in particular, as well.
Shire Plc added 0.43% to trade at GBX 4 460 per share as of 13:44 GMT, marking a one-year increase of 59.80%. The company is valued at GBP 26.10 billion.
TradingPedia.com is a financial media specialized in providing daily news and education covering Forex, equities and commodities. Our academies for traders cover 
