Cargill winds up Duckworth’s pension

ONE of the largest private companies in the world is concluding the winding-up of the pension scheme at its operation in Manchester.

Minneapolis-based Cargill, which employs 160,000 people in 67 countries, produces and distributes food ingredients.

It bought Trafford Park-based food flavourings firm Duckworth Group for around £40m in 2004 and renamed the business Cargill Flavour Systems.

Last year the new owners decided to shut down Duckworth’s defined pension scheme as part of an efficiency drive. The fund, which has 167 members, has been transferred to an insurance company which now has responsbility for paying the pensions.

The trustees are now seeking any members who are unaware of the closure and have given them two months to get in touch and stake a claim.

A spokesman for Cargill said: “This scheme is small and had only about 220 members – of which only half were still employees as the rest of the membership no longer worked for the company.

“It is now closed to new members and contributions as employees have been enrolled in the Cargill pension and benefit programmes. However, the total membership has now reduced to 167 as 65 employees elected to transfer their accrued funds to the Cargill pension arrangement.”

The Duckworth Group produces flavourings for drinks, sweets, biscuits, ice cream and bread.

It was the largest independently-owned flavourings firm in the UK and was established in Corporation Street, Manchester, by William Duckworth in 1885. His descendants continued to own and run the business until it was sold to Cargill.

Cargill also has a dry corn milling operation in Liverpool, which supplies breakfast cereal and tortilla chip makers and an oilseed crushing and cotton businesses on Merseyside.