Tulip to axe 121 jobs at its Wirral sausage plant

The site produces fresh sausages for retail and foodservice customers throughout the UK.

Launching a period of collective consultation with employees at the site, Tulip said in a statement: “This follows an announcement in October last year that Tulip had been unsuccessful in its bid to retain and grow some of its business at the Bromborough site following a recent supplier review with one of its customers.”​

Nearly half of total production​

A spokesman for the firm said the current agreement with this particular customer would end in May, after which there would be a phased reduction in production, which equates to nearly half of total production at Bromborough.

“We have aimed to keep potential job losses to a minimum but have identified 121 people to be at risk of redundancy,”​ he said.

Tulip operated 16 fresh and cooked meat sites across the UK, employing around 7,000 people.

The firm’s owner, the Danish Crown group, is the largest pork producer in Europe and the biggest exporter of pork in the world.

Technical apprenticeships​

Last week Tulip extended its apprenticeship programme for 2016, offering 30 butchery, nine engineering and nine technical apprenticeships.

The company planned to recruit until April, saying it wanted to hear from the “next generation”​ of young people looking for career and development opportunities.

It offered 44 apprenticeships in 2015 but has increased this to 48 for 2016.​

Meanwhile, last month the firm revealed plans to move its cooked meat operations from Bodmin, Cornwall to other sites in the UK, putting 430 jobs at risk​ of redundancy.

In January 2015, Tulip announced plans to axe 78 roles at Tipton factory in the West Midlands.