Tulip to axe 150 jobs at Cornwall site

04-Jun-2018 - Last updated on 05-Jun-2018 at 08:40 GMT

Tulip is to cut 150 jobs at its Bodmin site

The loss of 150 jobs at pork processor Tulip’s Bodmin, Cornwall meat processing site has been deemed a ‘body blow’ to the local community by trade union Unite.

Tulip confirmed the job cuts at site last week, less than two months after it announced it had entered a period of consultation with staff over the future of the factory.

Unite called the job losses particularly hard, given the nature of Bodmin as one of the most deprived wards in the country.

Regional officer Deborah Hopkins said: “These job losses are a body blow for the Cornish economy. Behind the picture postcard scenes, Cornwall has real pockets of deep deprivation.

‘Hideously difficult time’

“It is because of this, Unite is urging the management at Bodmin to actively engage with us to chart a way forward at what is a hideously difficult time for the workers.”

The jobs lost at the Bodmin site were primarily at the lower end of the skills spectrum, said Unite. It claimed that Tulip had not approached unions to help provide support for staff.

“Tulip had lost a contract with Tesco’s recently and then the staff agreed to a change of contract to support the company, so they are very disappointed today to find themselves being made redundant,” claimed Hopkins.

“Their goodwill has reaped a sour dividend which has been compounded by the lack of information from the firm before this decision was announced.”

‘Reaped a sour dividend’

In April, Tulip entered into consultation at the Bodmin site because of a significant fall in production volumes at the site due to the loss of business. The company said it would work closely with staff to help minimise the impact of the announcement as much as possible.

A spokesman said: “We have worked closely with our employees at Bodmin to help reduce the impact where possible and we have managed to successfully find alternative roles for a number of employees within the Danish Crown Group.

We’ll make every effort to support anyone affected through redundancy packages and continued recruitment advice. We would like to take this opportunity to thank both our employees and the wider local community for their support during this difficult period.”

The spokesman also added that their had been no recent contract loss with Tesco.

Meanwhile, Young’s Seafood has confirmed plans to close its Pinneys site in Annan, Scotland towards the end of this year.