120 jobs threatened at Mr Kipling distributor site

Talks between the union and XPO, which were held on February 21, revolved around XPO’s plans to stop distributing Mr Kipling products from the Rugby centre by the end of July.

It is understood that Premier Foods holds the site lease, which expires at the end of the year, and that XPO runs it under a ‘licence to occupy’ agreement.

Proposals include moving distribution of Premier Foods’ Mr Kipling products to a new site in Tamworth, also run by XPO.

Planned to sell off the site​

“Premier Foods knew exactly what was going to happen after a year,” ​said BFAWU organising regional secretary Jit Singh.

“Our members are losing their jobs and years of Premier Foods mismanagement has led to this. Our members have been sold down the river.”​

XPO had offered workers jobs at the Tamworth site, but the terms and conditions were not fit for BFAWU’s members, claimed Singh.

“It’s un-unionised and I believe that the wages are a lot lower than what our members receive at Rugby,”​ he added.

FoodManufacture.co.uk had approached XPO and was awaiting comment as this article was published.