Redundancies confirmed at Bakkavor’s salads arm
The job losses at the manufacturer’s Spalding, Lincolnshire site followed a 45-day consultation period with the 250 employees at the factory. At the time, Bakkavor said the reorganisation was necessary to ensure the factory remained sustainable for the future.
A spokesman for the company said: “While sadly we will lose some colleagues through redundancy in the new year, we’ve successfully secured alternative roles for the vast majority of people impacted by the change and the number of redundancies is likely to be to be significantly lower than expected.
‘Unsettling and difficult time’
“We appreciate that this is an unsettling and difficult time for everyone affected and would like to stress that this decision in no way reflects the commitment and hard work of the employees at the site.”
Bakkavor’s salads division shares the site with the company’s soups, sauces and dips divisions. More than 1,000 workers are employed across the four areas.
Members of trade union Unite voted for strike action at the site in a dispute over pay in November last year, which threatened to disrupt supplies of festive stock to retailers Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer and The Co-op.
Suppressing pay
Last year, Unite regional officer Mick Orpin slammed the manufacturer for “suppressing workers’ pay” with no justification, especially when Bakkavor’s profits had increased year-on-year.
Redundancies have been reported at a number of food and drink manufacturing companies over recent months.
November saw more than 100 people made redundant at the 2 Sisters-owned Fox’s Biscuits factory in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. That same month saw McCain Foods announce the possible loss of 230 jobs at its Grantham factory as it sought to streamline production across the UK.
Meanwhile, last month, Nestlé confirmed it had begun a consultation into job cuts at its facility in York.
