No cure found by troubled bacon firm
The last traditional bacon curer in the south-east has closed, blaming escalating insurance costs and poor prices.
Horsham Bacon Factory processed 400-500 pigs a week from farmers in Kent, Sussex and Surrey, supplying fresh pork and Wiltshire cure bacon to independent outlets. The factory's 16 butchers have been made redundant.
Director Peter Lou, whose father took on the business in 1966, said insurance premiums had risen five-fold in the last three years, while prices had tumbled. "Fifteen years ago we were getting £1.20/kg, next week we'd be lucky to get £1.10/kg -- that just about sums it up," said Lou.
According to Bibby Financial Services, more than two thirds of small and medium-sized businesses are worried that further hikes in insurance cover, including employers' liability insurance, could force them into closure.
