The Westhoughton facility near Bolton makes De La Rue’s Safeguard polymer substrate and the site has received substantial investment as part of the PLC’s plans to grow that part of its business.

The Bolton News reported that a proposed pay rise of 2.5% had followed a decade of “sub-par offers”, according to Unite regional officer Gary Fairclough.

A 24-hour walkout is planned for tomorrow (23 January), and workers have also implemented an overtime ban.

It’s understood that 73 employees are involved in the action.

In its half-year results released in December De La Rue CEO Clive Vacher described its performance as “robust” and said its Currency division was showing signs of recovery.

The group, which issued a succession of profit warnings during 2022-2023, had sales of £349.7m in the year to 25 March 2023.