UNITE vowed to “fight for every job” at Nestle sites across Britain after the food and drinks giant announced plans to cut thousands of roles worldwide.

The Swiss-based firm unveiled on Thursday that it will be cutting 12,000 administrative staff and 4,000 roles in manufacturing and supply across the globe.

Nestle boss Philipp Navratil said the firm needed to secure its future “as a leader in our industry,” adding that it would be “prioritising the opportunities and businesses with the highest potential returns.”

The plans are expected to save the company around one billion Swiss francs (£940 million) each year by the end of 2027.

Although for the first nine month of this year, the firm, which owns brands such as KitKat and Nescafe, recorded 65.9 billion Swiss francs (£61.5 billion) worth of sales.

Unite represents around 1,000 workers at sites in York, Halifax, Dalston and Tutbury as well as additional staff at Buxton Water.

The union’s general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Nestle is a profitable company, selling billions of produce every month. Job losses are simply unacceptable. 

“Unite will not allow our members to be the victims of any attempt to put profits before jobs.”

Unite national officer for food and drink Paul Travers added: “The new CEO seems to put priorities on larger profit margins compared to the people who work hard to deliver them.  

“His approach is unacceptable and Unite will respond robustly to any attacks on jobs in the UK.”