Union sounds alarm bells as Unilever closes Grimsby plant

Food and other manufacturing jobs are "vanishing needlessly", according to the GMB trades union, which accused Unilever of forcing the unnecessary closure of its Birds Eye frozen food factory in Grimsby with the loss of 600 jobs.

It said Unilever was abandoning its "loyal and skilled workforce as they seek to maximise profit through sub-contracting work to low-pay, low-skill factories elsewhere in Europe"

Unilever confirmed it was transferring production of ready meals but would not reveal where, although the Irish firm Kerry is believed to be in the frame.

James Hill, chairman of Unilever's ice cream and frozen food division, said: "There is significant over-capacity in the ready meals industry and to be competitive you need large-scale, highly-flexible facilities. Even if we had made large internal investment in the Grimsby plant we simply couldn't match the scale and innovation capabilities already available from third parties."

The Grimsby plant closure took the total number of food manufacturing job cuts announced since the beginning of September to over 2,300, said the GMB. The union called the overall job situation "an emergency" as losses across every manufacturing sector in September rose to 6,289 -- more than 200% up on August.

Losses included 1,000 at Northern Foods, 500 at a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Northern Ireland, 400 at Arla Foods' Newcastle and Ruislip plants and 175 at Richmond Foods in Ivybridge. Interbrew, Lakeland Dairies and Greggs each announced cuts of 50-plus.

However, 120 potato processing workers at a Unilever factory at Lowestoft have won a reprieve. The firm said it was no longer looking for a buyer for the factory, which would remain open.

Unilever said its food sales fell in the third quarter by 1.5% year-on-year. Ice cream and frozen food sales fell 5.9%.