PHARMACEUTICALS giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has clarified that 73 jobs are under threat in Slough following its announcement to close and sell its Horlicks factory site.

The Stoke Poges Lane building, which is iconic in the town, is to be closed as part of the company’s plans to sell the Horlicks brand itself – but it will not be included in any sale and is likely to be sold separately.

Slough Borough Council has confirmed that the famous building is not listed, leaving it open to future development.

Overall, the company will slash 320 jobs across the Horlicks site in Slough and its antibiotics manufacturing site in Worthing over the next four years.

A GSK spokesperson told the Observer: “This is subject to consultation and will take sometime, but the expectation is that, after the brand is sold, we will continue production at the (Slough) site for a transitional period of time before the new company is ready to take on production themselves. It clearly won’t be an immediate thing.”

Roger Connor, president of GSK’s global manufacturing and supply division, said he understood that the decision would create uncertainty.

He said: “We have a substantial manufacturing presence in the UK and continue to support the network with new investment of more than £140 million in the next three years.

“At the same time, we have had to make some decisions which we know will cause uncertainty for some of our employees. We will do all we can to support them through this process.”

GSK currently employs around 17,000 people in the UK.

The company stressed that none of the announcements were the result of the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

GSK is also looking to sell the MaxiNutrition brand in the UK and divest in “some other smaller non-core nutrition brands”.

However, the company explained that the sale of its Horlicks operations in Britain would not affect the brand in India or South East Asia, which currently account for the “vast majority” of the brand’s global revenue.