Unite and Usdaw confirm Dairy Crest job talks

The unions described the news as “devastating​” and “a massive blow​” for the workers but stressed that talks were now underway to find a possible alternative.

Unite, which has members at both sites in Aintree and Fenstanton, also urged the firm to provide alternative opportunities within different areas of the business.

National officer at Unite, Cath Speight said: “This is devastating news for the workers spread across both sites. We have now entered into the 90-day consultation and Unite will be doing everything possible to save these jobs​.

Job opportunities​

“These closures will be a massive blow for the workers and the local areas affected. As more and more people are made redundant, job opportunities are becoming even scarcer​.”

Usdaw, which has members at Dairy Crest’s Aintree site, also claimed it would do “everything it could​” to support the affected workers.

John Gorle, Usdaw national officer, said: “Today’s announcement has come as a complete shock to our members. It is potentially devastating news for everyone who works at Aintree and for the local economy, where over 9,000 unemployed people are already chasing just 750 job centre vacancies.”​

“While we are under no illusion about the challenges facing the milk industry at the moment, Usdaw will examine the company’s business case for the proposal in detail and we will use the consultation process to explore every possible alternative to closure​.”

Earlier today Dairy Crest revealed its decision​ as it seeks to restore profitability to its struggling dairies division.

Extremely challenging market​

The firm said the move would help it reduce costs in what was an “extremely challenging market​”. It also revealed that it had lost a key contract to supply liquid milk to retailer Tesco, but stressed that the issues were not related.

Experts have welcomed the closures and confirmed that the move was evidence that Dairy Crest had no intentions of exiting the struggling sector.

But Darren Shirley, an analyst at Shore Capital, warned that the effectiveness of the move remained to be seen.

He said: “Unfortunately, Dairy Crest has lost liquid milk business with Tesco, accounting for 3% of its volumes. Such a loss is naturally disappointing for the company as it worked hard to gain a foothold with the market leader.​

“However, to our minds, it underscores the sheer folly, that we forcibly expressed at the time, of an industry that showed cataclysmic indiscipline over the past two years in a dash to gain and maintain share​.”