Bakkavor confirms possible job losses at Spalding site

Bakkavor said it had entered into several consultations with employees at the site where it has two salads factories, two meals factories and a distribution centre.

It said that, over the past 12 months, the salads businesses at Spalding had come under “increasing pressure”, ​due to the impact of a business loss at the beginning of 2020 and, more recently, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In January, Bakkavor confirmed a number of job losses at the same site​​. The job losses followed a consultation with 250 employees at the factory.  

Bakkavor’s salad division shares the site with the company’s soups, sauces and dips divisions. 

Difficult decisions​ 

The company said that it had had to make some “difficult decisions”​ to remain sustainable in this difficult trading environment.  

The company said it was proposing to cease operating Factory 1 and change the night shift patterns within the Deli. It was also planning to change how it managed operations across the site, which would involve reviewing and reducing functional support roles.

Success​ 

A spokesman for Bakkavor said: “We believe these changes are fundamental to the future success of the site. If these proposals go ahead, wherever possible we will try to find alternative roles for those impacted across our other Lincolnshire sites or within the group.”​

Unite, the union, has said that more than 430 jobs are under threat at the site.  The union said it was meeting management to ask for the business rationale for the job cuts 

Unite regional officer Mick Orpin said: “This news is a bitter pill for the workers and their families, as well as for the wider Lincolnshire economy – our members face a period of deep uncertainty and worry as to how they will put food on the table for their families and pay their bills.​

“As we start the 45-day consultation process today (Tuesday 9 June), we are going to ask to see – and also challenge – the management’s business rationale behind this decision as we are not convinced by its argument.”​