Produce Investments confirms closure of Shropshire potato packing plant
POTATO business Produce Investments has confirmed it is to close its packing operation in Shropshire with the loss of almost 200 jobs.
The group had warned in its March interims that that future of the Tern Hill operation was in doubt due to a need to reduce costs.
It said then that it was entering into a 45-day consultation with workers to review the future of the operation, which employs 190 people.
That consultation has now ended and in a statement today, Produce Investments said: “Following this consultation, the company can now confirm that operations will cease at the site in August this year, with volumes transferring to their sites in the Scottish Borders and Cambridgeshire.”
Chief executive Angus Armstrong had said in the interim statement that the business had to continually review its core capacities and recent efficiency improvements had meant that with slight modifications at its two remaining packing sites at Duns in the Scottish Borders and Floods Ferry in Cambridgeshire it could rationalise the packing operation.
He said there would be no change to how the company procured potatoes in the west of England following the Tern Hill closure and had informed growers accordingly.
“A significant proportion of potatoes that are currently packed at the Tern Hill site are sourced from Scotland and the East of England, so this fits with the business and customer strategy to reduce ‘food miles’,” he said.
Results for the half year to December 2013 had shown revenue at the group down 0.1 % to £89.60m (2012:£89.67m). Operating profit reached £5.78m (2012: loss of £0.68m).
The company had said it anticipated creating 50 new posts at the two remaining packing plants and would be encouraging Tern Hill workers to apply. It isn’t known if any have.
