The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Bakkavor has announced it is looking to close its salad production facility at Sutton Bridge.
The company says a total of 900 employees at the site and its desserts site in Leicester, which it is also set to close, are affected.
A statement released by the company says the measures are needed to “protect” the business in a “challenging” climate.
A statement released today states: “Bakkavor is the leading provider of fresh prepared food in the UK, and has a well-established, strong and resilient business, with c.15,800 colleagues working across 29 UK sites.
“Our resilience is underpinned by our scale and agility in response to changing market conditions, to ensure we can continue to service our customers, protect our financial strength, and secure our sustainable, long-term future
“The macro-economic backdrop and in particular consumer sentiment in the UK remains very challenging.
“As reported in our Half Year Results announcement in September, the significant level of inflation and consumer headwinds we are continuing to face are expected to persist into next year.
“Recent investments across our UK operations to enhance our capacity and capabilities provide us with a strong platform on which to further leverage our scale and flexibility.
“Therefore, as we seek to protect our business, we have undertaken a detailed review of our UK footprint.
“We are proposing to close two sites; Bakkavor Salads in Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire and Bakkavor Desserts in Leicester. Our other UK sites have the capacity and capabilities to continue to fully service our customers should these proposals go ahead.
“As a business that invests in the development of its people, rewards long service and invests in the local communities in which we operate, it is with great sadness that this difficult but necessary business decision may impact a number of our colleagues. Across the two sites, we employ over 900 colleagues.
“We will shortly be commencing a 45-day consultation period with affected colleagues and their representatives at both sites.
“If the proposals go ahead, we will do everything we can to support our colleagues and try to minimise job losses.
“We are committed to offering our weekly paid colleagues comparable roles at a different Bakkavor site, and for those where this is not possible, we will be working on several initiatives to help colleagues secure alternative employment opportunities in their local area.”
Mike Edwards, CEO, commented: “As with businesses all over the UK, we are having to take decisive action to adapt to the challenging macro-economic backdrop.
“The decision to close any site is never taken lightly, and we do not underestimate the impact of this announcement on our colleagues and the local communities within which we operate.
“We remain committed to both protecting our business and doing everything we can to support our people through this difficult time.”
