Pfizer job losses: Anger and shock in ancient port of Sandwich

The mayor of Sandwich, Dr Terence Clifford-Amos, says there is 'anger' and 'dismay' over the announcement that drugs giant Pfizer will be leaving the town. Photograph: Antonio Zazueta Olmos/ Antonio Olmos

The ancient port of Sandwich has already dealt with the loss of one major source of trade in its long history. When the Wansum estuary on which it relied largely silted up in the 18th century, the port was starved of much of its business.

The town was facing a very different kind of dislocation last week, and one tied to modern, globalised capitalism. Pharmaceuticals firm Pfizer announced it was leaving town for good, threatening 2,400 jobs.

The scale of that departure in terms of the impact on Sandwich is difficult to overstate. When Pfizer employed 8,000 people here not so long ago, its payroll in east Kent comfortably outnumbered the number of people who actually live in Sandwich