Unite laments Vion letting 310 jobs ‘slip away’

By Lorraine Mullaney

- Last updated on GMT

310 Welsh Country Foods staff lost their jobs today
310 Welsh Country Foods staff lost their jobs today
Unite the union has lamented the way Vion has handled its Welsh Country Foods plant, which closed today with the loss of 310 jobs.

Paddy McNaught, Unite Wales officer, told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “This is clearly a sad day for our members at Welsh Country Foods, Gaerwen, and a sad day for the community as a whole in Anglesey.

“We know that there was business interest in the site and were optimistic that a buyer could be found. We are very disappointed in the manner in which Vion UK has simply let this slip away – along with hundreds of jobs.”

Vion recently held talks with management at the lamb processing facility in a bid to save at least 70 jobs in a management buyout​.

A spokesman for Vion also told FoodManufacture.co.uk that there were “several other interested parties”​.

‘Several other interested parties’

However, attempts to find a buyer have now failed and the site on the Island of Anglesey will close immediately, although a skeleton security and maintenance crew will remain.

A spokesman for the Welsh government said: “This is very disappointing news as we had been working with Vion UK to try to achieve the successful sale of its Welsh Country Foods site at Gaerwen to safeguard the jobs there, just as had been achieved at Vion’s other sites in Wales.

“Welsh Government support was instrumental in realising the sale of the Vion’s red meat processing facility in Merthyr Tydfil, together with its two poultry units in Llangefni and Sandycroft, to the 2 Sisters Food Group, safeguarding thousands of jobs and securing the potential creation of new jobs.”

The job losses will come as a major blow to the community in Anglesey – which has also suffered redundancies at Anglesey Aluminium – and will also have a detrimental effect on local farmers.

Vion decided to close the plant after its key customer Asda moved its fresh lamb business to another supplier.

‘A very sad day’

Eddie Ennis, site director at Welsh Country Foods, said: “This is a very sad day for all those involved at Welsh Country Foods. We have explored every possible avenue to avoid having to take this extremely regrettable action but, unfortunately, we have been unable to identify any viable alternative to closure of the plant.

“We have had extensive discussions with a number of parties who expressed interest in buying the plant but, regrettably, no agreement could be reached.

No agreement could be reached

“We are fully aware of the impact which this decision will have on the local economy and the community in Anglesey but the loss of the plant’s major customer means that there is no longer a viable future for the site.”

The plant was purchased by Vion Food Group in August 2008 when it acquired the Grampian Country Food Group and forms part of the Group’s red meat activities.

Vion announced in November that it was selling its UK food operations​, which employed a total of 13,000 people across 38 sites, to focus on its core food activities in the Netherlands and Germany and its global ingredients business.

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