90 jobs at risk as popcorn factory set for closure

KP Snacks has announced plans to close a popcorn factory in Barnsley and relocate manufacturing to another facility in Pontefract West Yorkshire.

The company is planning to close the Largo Foods UK factory in Barnsley, where some popcorn is currently made, and transfer production to  its Butterkist factory.

The move is expected to put 90 jobs at risk, whilst an additional 31 roles will become available at the Pontefract factory.

Mark Duffy, manufacturing director at KP Snacks, said: “Following our acquisition of Butterkist in 2017 we have been reviewing our manufacturing capability to ensure that we can deliver quality products with great service and at the right cost for our customers. Our review has concluded that we are over capacity across our popcorn manufacturing base.

“The Largo Foods UK site in Barnsley has expanded in recent years as business has grown, however the growth has resulted in us occupying a number of business units and the space constraints drive increased costs and some technical challenges. KP’s Butterkist factory in Pontefract is a large, modern, cost-effective self-contained unit.

“The constraints at Barnsley mean there is not the capacity to accommodate Pontefract’s production, however Pontefract could accommodate Barnsley’s production, whilst retaining scope for further volume growth.”

Duffy added: “Therefore, KP have decided to announce the proposal to relocate the manufacturing of popcorn from Barnsley to our Pontefract site, which would lead to the closure of the Barnsley site later this year. If the proposal to close the Largo Foods UK site goes ahead, 90 colleagues will be potentially at risk of redundancy.

“If our proposal goes ahead, we anticipate 31 roles being available at Pontefract as likely mitigation for Barnsley colleagues. We will work with impacted employees to place them into suitable roles at Pontefract, or where opportunities become available at other KP sites. We recognise the proposal will cause a lot of uncertainty for people and we will support our colleagues during the consultation process, ensuring that we are regularly communicating with them.”