Two hundred jobs to go at Malton meat processing plant

VION Food Group, Britain’s biggest food processor, is to cut more than 200 jobs at its Yorkshire factory as it restructures its operations.

As well as the job losses at the premises in Malton, North Yorkshire, a further 150 posts at a processing plant near Glasgow and 470 in Haverhill  in Suffolk are also threatened.

Vion said that restructuring at the English units would involve relocating some Haverhill sections to Malton and moving the cooked meat unit from Malton to Haverhill.

It added that the changes would create two new “centres of excellence” with Vion Malton, formerly Grampian Country Pork, focusing on fresh pork and bacon.

More than 1,000 staff are employed at the Malton factory, which is the North Yorkshire market town’s biggest employer.

It was taken over by the Dutch group last year which bought up Grampian as part of its plans to expand its UK business.

A spokesman said that consultations have started with staff as have discussions with regional development agency Yorkshire Forward to identify support.

The company is blaming a competitive market place and overcapacity in the UK meat processing sector for the restructuring.

Alasdair Cox, communications director, said Vion had to optimise its production facilities to ensure sound foundations for development of its UK business.

He added: “In creating dedicated facilities at Malton and Haverhill, we will also be investing in both plants to build the business.”

Vion said it would attempt to mitigate the number of redundancies in England by offering staff jobs at its other processing sites.

Theresa Lindsay, assistant business director at Yorkshire Forward, said: “Vion’s processing plant at Malton is vital to the local economy and Yorkshire Forward is working closely with Vion in the re-structuring of the business to safeguard its future and ensure that the Yorkshire plant becomes a centre of excellence within the wider group.”

Vion is owned by 18,000 Dutch farmers through the ZLTO farming organisation.

It has an annual turnover of more than £6bn and employs around 15,000 people worldwide.