THE new boss of Nestl Rowntree has told his senior management team to either motivate their staff or quit.

Chris White told divisional managers at the York plant they needed to sell more chocolate at higher prices to re-establish the company as a prime player in the sweets market.

The broadside came in response to figures which showed Nestl had slipped behind rivals Mars after losing 0.5 per cent in market share last year.

Mr White, who replaced John Sunley when he resigned for personal reasons last month, sent a memo to managers warning them that if they did not "excite" employees, they should be working somewhere else.

But his comments, made in a memo to senior managers at the factory, have appalled employees, coming only two months after the announcement that 150 process jobs on the Kit-Kat, Aero and assortment lines at the Wigginton Road plant were to be cut.

In August, it was announced that 220 technical posts would be cut during the next 18 months.

One long-serving employee said: "It is an absolute joke. I feel his comments are a real kick in the teeth for people who are losing their jobs. How can we get excited when the workforce is being reduced?

"In my opinion, it is clear all they are interested in is making more money."

But a Nestl spokeswoman said the message was only a rallying cry to managers to inspire them to sell more chocolate. She said: "Of course he wants to give out strong, positive messages."

Mr White, who arrived at York from Nestl Australia, said in his memo: "We need to start bridging the gap between us and Cadbury.

"Nothing that Cadbury and Mars is doing should intimidate us, it just is not that good."

Referring to the company's minimum targets forthis year, which include organic growth of about two per cent, he said: "Frankly, we need to do better than this, and I expect to be revising our numbers up by the June revision."