Xaar China staff resign

Cambridge-based inkjet printer firm Xaar said the staff in its China office had all quit in an argument over unfair treatment.

The seven employees and two contractors, had resigned with immediate effect, Xaar said.

The company said that sales order processing and product distribution of its technology into China was handled by an independent trading company, and therefore supply channels were not expected to be affected.

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"At this stage the impact of the resignations is not expected to be material to Xaar's 2012 earnings," it added.

The firm said that short term actions to support Xaar's Chinese customers were being implemented immediately, and an update on the company's longer term arrangements for China would be provided with its 2011 results announcement on 20 March 2012.

The argument began in December 2011, when Xaar's China staff said they were suffering unfair treatment of both themselves and some Chinese customers compared to other regions.

This included allegations that Xaar's pricing and shipment policies had created an unfair market.

"Xaar has taken the allegations extremely seriously and, having completed a thorough investigation, has found no evidence to substantiate the allegations," the company said.

However, the China staff rejected the conclusions of the investigation, and have now resigned.