Eighty jobs at risk as Wensleydale manufacturer plans site closure

Major dairy processor and cheese manufacturer Saputo has announced plans to close its Harrogate facility, relocating operations to Warwickshire.
The Canadian dairy giant has begun consulting with staff at the Wensleydale Creamery plant in Kirkby Malzeard, North Yorkshire.
If the closure proceeds, it would result in the loss of 80 jobs, with production shifting to Saputo’s dairy factory in Nuneaton, where the company recently completed a significant investment.
Saputo, the group behind well-known brands such as Cathedral City, Clover, Flylight, and Utterly Butterly, has also proposed shutting down its Frome factory in Somerset, consolidating production at the Nuneaton site.
Wensleydale Dairy Products was formed after an MBO from Dairy Crest in 1992 and is widely known as The Wensleydale Creamery, however Wensleydale cheese production can trace its roots back to the 1300s when French Cistercian monks settled in the area.
The firm produces a range of speciality and regional cheeses with milk sourced from 40 local farms and garnered worldwide attention after Wallace (from Wallace and Gromit) declared it to be his favourite cheese in the 1995 film ‘A Close Shave’.
Saputo UK has been contacted for comment, with no immediate response received.